Tears of a Phoenix
by Chibigreen
Summary: DISCONTINUED A FYHP X-over (AU). What would it be like if Miaka was ten years old and the seishi existed in the real world? Then, they all end up going to a magic school called Hogwarts...
1. Character Introduction, Prologue, & Chap...

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

What would it be like if Miaka was ten years old?  What would it be like if the seishi existed in the real world?  And what would it be like if they are all going to one place: the magic school called Hogwarts?

**Author's Note: **This was inspired by one too many Card Captor Sakura/Harry Potter crossover fics and the rumored title of the fifth book.  I mean, if you're a die-hard FY fan, you usually almost immediately think "Suzaku" after hearing the word "Phoenix", and I heard the fifth book's title is "The Order of the Phoenix".

**DISCLAIMER:** J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.  Yuu Watase owns Fushigi Yuugi.  My name is neither Yuu Watase nor J.K. Rowling.  Therefore, I own neither Harry Potter nor Fushigi Yuugi.  I am so broke I can't even buy a new anime video right now, so it'd be pointless to try to sue me.

**An Introduction of the Characters:** ****

I will list the characters, and describe those I have changed/made a character for if they didn't appear in the series.  All of the ones under the four main gods are ten or eleven years old, so imagine them as halfway chibified if you know what they look like.  I won't be describing them.  The names are first name and then last name in this list, but in the story they may appear the opposite way.  The real names of the seishi are in parentheses.

**Suzaku:**

Miaka Yuuki

Tamahome (Taka Sukunami) – as Taka from the OVAs (no ponytail, bluish hair, etc.)

Hotohori (Saihitei Seishuku)

Nuriko (Ryuuen/Kourin Chou)

Chichiri (Houjun Ri)

Tasuki (Shun'u/Genrou Kou)

Mitsukake (Juan Myou)*

Chiriko (Doukun Ou)

**Seiryuu:**

Yui Hongou

Nakago (Ayuru Gi)

Amiboshi (Koutoku Bu)

Suboshi (Shunkaku Bu)

Soi (Kaen Haku)

Ashitare (Kiba Ashippo)*

Tomo (Chuin Ruo)

Miboshi (Karasu Kuchibashi)*

**Others: ** Parentheses () mark who they were in FY.  The info that follows a dash – is whom I put them related to.

Keisuke Yuuki

Tetsuya Kajiwara

Hikou Ri* – Houjun's older-by-one-year brother

Kouran Kamekara*

Kouji Kou* –Tasuki's brother who is one year older than Tasuki

Shifan Wong* (Girl who was set up with Tamahome by Tokaki in the series) – Hotohori's younger sister (isn't mentioned for a while)

Rokou Chou (Nuriko's older brother)

Houki Chou* – Nuriko's twin sister

Shouka Suzume*

ReiRei Kaou* (A girl who liked Tasuki from Genrou Den)

Keiron Kaou* (Rerei's older brother.  He was a bad guy and hit on Tasuki) – Reirei's 14 year old brother

* I took some artistic license with the real names I did not know, or those I had to make up.  Some I just wanted to play around with.

**And now for the real part of the story…**

~**Prologue**~

One year ago, an evil man, whom no one was quite sure if he _was_ even human anymore, attacked a house owned by James and Lily Potter.  The man killed both James and Lily with a powerful and evil curse that no one had ever survived.

The man's name was feared throughout the wizard world.  It was Voldemort.

Then, an event that would lead to great rejoicing throughout the wizards' world occurred.  Voldemort tried to kill the child of James and Lily, a young boy that carried the name of Harry.  But it was _not_ the attempted murder of the child that was barely one year old that caused the rejoicing.  Rather, it was when the curse backfired, leaving Harry with only a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

Voldemort was not as fortunate.  When the curse that he had used to kill so many backfired, the man was nearly killed.  He was left almost powerless and without a body, and so he retreated and hid while he sought to regain the dark powers that once lay so easily within his grasp.

And slowly the magical world recovered from the blows the darkness of Voldemort had struck.

~**Chapter 1**~

"Keisuke!" whined Yuuki Miaka at her older brother.  "Why do _you_ always get to go to a private school, but _I_ have to stay here and study?"  Ten-year-old Miaka pouted as her fifteen-year-old brother carried a trunk to the living room that he never, ever let her look into.  She always felt that something strange was in it, and her curiosity was almost overwhelming.  However, for the last five years she had held herself back because of her mother's orders to never, ever look into the trunk.

"It's because I was accepted to the school and _you_ weren't," replied Keisuke seriously.  Miaka pouted.

"I can speak English just as well as you can!  I don't see why you're so much more special than me!"

"It's because-" _Tap. Tap. Tap._  A clicking noise against the window made both Miaka and Keisuke look up in surprise.  An owl was standing on the window and holding a letter in its beak.

While Miaka stared, Keisuke went to open the window like it happened to him everyday.  The owl, a brown barn owl still slightly sooty from the polluted air of Tokyo, dropped the letter inside once it was perched safely on the windowsill.  Miaka, overcoming her astonishment, ran forward and picked it up.  It was addressed in English to her.

The envelope seemed to be of a yellow parchment and the address was written in bright green ink to a "Ms. M. Yuuki".  She flipped it over, and it was sealed close with a purple wax seal that was made of a large letter _H_ surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.  If she had looked up from the letter right then, she might have noticed the surprised look that covered his face.

Slowly she broke open the seal and took out the letter inside.  She had slight trouble reading it, but she was still able to understand the English.  "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Headmaster: Albus Fumblebore-"

"It says 'Dumbledore'," Keisuke corrected.

"Albus Dumbledore," she repeated dutifully.  "Dear Ms. Yuuki," she began to read the body of the letter.

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

_Term begins on September 1.  We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall, _[1]__

"Deputy Headmistress," finished Miaka.  She looked puzzled, and there seemed to be a couple of question marks hanging over her head.

"Well, Miaka, it looks like you'll be going to my school from now on," said Keisuke as he slapped Miaka playfully on the back.

"Eh?  You go to this school?"

"That's right!" he said with a wink.  "I'm learning to be a wizard!  You'll be a witch, which is a female wizard."

Her mouth was wide open at his straightforward acceptance of magic.  Finally she was able to spit out a question.  "W-Where is Hogwarts?  How come the letter is written in English?"  The English was the reason that she _knew_ it couldn't be a fake.  Her brother couldn't write neatly in English to save his own life.  And the owl helped to convince her, too.

"It's in _England_?  Is that the only magic school?"

Keisuke shook his head.  "Nope.  There's at least one in Japan, but the people in Tokyo get to go to Hogwarts because it's safer there.  A few things have been happening the past few years in the wizard world, and since that began the wizards in Tokyo have gone to England to train."

"Oh."  She thought about it for a while and looked at the letter.  "What do they mean by they await my owl?"

"They mean that you reply to them by sending a letter with this owl!  Here, I'll do it for you."  He ran into his room and came out with a real quill pen, a bottle of ink, and some parchment.  Then he sat down at the living room table and scratched out a message in English.  He read it out loud as he wrote.  "Dear… Prof. McGonagall… My little sister, Yuuki Miaka, has got the invitation.  She'll be going to Hogwarts.  Sincerely, Yuuki Keisuke...  P.S.  You're the best Transfiguration teacher in the whole world!"

Keisuke blew on the ink to let it dry, and then he rolled up the parchment and handed it to the barn owl that was still sitting impatiently on the windowsill.  The owl grabbed it quickly and flew off with a slightly annoyed hoot.

Keisuke turned to see Miaka staring at him with a sweat-drop.  "You were sucking up again, Oniichan."

He grinned as Miaka checked out the other contents of the envelope.  There were three things.  One was a supplies list and the other was a ticket for a subway train.  The third was a note that read, "All of those going to Hogwarts should take the subway to the National Library on August 25.  Meet Hagrid there to be transported to the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley.  In the week before term starts, you can buy your supplies.  _Bring money for your supplies!_"

Miaka blinked.  "Are the supplies that expensive?"

Keisuke nodded.  "But don't worry; they'll be cheaper this year than they have been for a while.  Also, you don't have to buy most of those books because I have them.  And for anything you do need," he grinned, "we can always borrow money from Tetsuya!"

"NANI?  _Kajiwara_ Tetsuya is a wizard, too?"  Miaka thought of the rich kid that _always_ wore sunglasses and couldn't believe that he was a wizard, too.

"Oh, yeah!" Keisuke said enthusiastically.  "I used to owe him a whole lot of money, but Mom's been helping me pay it off and I'm better at practical magic than he is.  He takes some of the debt away whenever I practice some of the theories he makes up!"

"What does he make theories about?"

"One time he made a formula for a potion that will give you any hair color and hair length you want permanently!  It just needs a charm to get it working.  When it worked, he paid me big time for that one!  I almost brought my debt to ZERO!"  His eyes got starry.  "It was so cool!"

Miaka sighed.  "Oniichan, you're hopeless," as the phone rang.  She ran over to pick it up.  "Moshi moshi?"

"Miaka, is that you?" asked a voice that Miaka recognized

"Yes, it's me, Yui-chan."  She had always gone to school with Hongou Yui, but she supposed that she couldn't anymore.  That saddened her.  "Listen, Yui-chan, I won't be going to the same school anymore."

"What?  I called to tell you the same thing!"

"Eh?  Really?  What school are you going to?"

"It's called Hogwarts," she replied.

"Wow!  Is it in England?  I think I'm going to the same one!"

"You're going to Hogwarts, too?  That's so great, Miaka!   We'll still be going to the same school!"

"Sugoi!  And you know what else?  Oniichan is a wizard, too!"

"He is?  That's great!  I have a ton of questions I want to ask!"

"Okay, Yui-chan.  Why don't you come over sometime soon?  Then we can talk all we want!"

"Okay, Miaka!  I'll come by later!  Sayonara!"

*******

A couple of months (and a subway ride) later… 

Miaka and many other children her age, as well as older ones, departed the comfortable first-class green train and walked to the National Library at nine o' clock at night.  All of them were carrying suitcases full of their things.

A sign said that the library was closed, but Tetsuya proved to everyone that the door was unlocked simply by pushing on it.  They all walked inside, and in the lobby was a gigantic man wearing a shaggy brown overcoat.  He had messy black hair and an equally chaotic beard.  He was smiling warmly as the last of them entered.

"Hello, everyone!" he said in heavily accented English.  "There's a lot of new faces this year!  Have yeh been doin' all right, everybody?  Are yeh ready for yer firs' year at Hogwarts?"  Judging by the confusion on some faces, they couldn't understand English very well.

"Or fifth year!" protested Keisuke.

"Or fifth year," agreed Hagrid.  "Jus' don' go in the Forbidden Forest this year, Yuuki, or else yeh might not make it to yer sixth!  Now 'ere's the thing.  We're 'sposed to use a set of books as the Portkey this year, but I can't find it!  Does anyone remember what it was?  Dumbledore told yeh last year."

People glanced back and forth at each other.  Most of them didn't know what a Portkey was, let alone what it was this year.  It appeared that they were stuck.

[1] This was taken straight from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  I claim no credit whatsoever as it belongs wholly to J.K. Rowling.


	2. Chapter 2

Re-uploaded!  Did the first version stink?  Yes, it stunk, especially at the part where they got their wands.  So here's the new version!  Hopefully it's better!

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**Author's Note:** I made a few changes to the first chapter.  For instance, when I realized that the time difference between Tokyo and London is about nine hours, I changed the time they went to the library nine o' clock at night.  That means that, when they travel by Portkey, they'll arrive in England at approximately noon, which is a much nicer time to go shopping than nine o'clock at night (which is the time that they would have arrived in England).  The rest of the changes were basically to make the chapter more organized.

**DISCLAIMER:** J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Yuu Watase owns Fushigi Yuugi.  I am not either of them, which makes me much less opulent (in fact, not wealthy at all) because I do not own either of their stories.

~**Chapter 2**~

As Hagrid sheepishly admitted to forgetting what the Portkey was, Kajiwara Tetsuya was thinking and trying to remember what it was.  He was wearing sunglasses to obscure his eyes, as he almost always did, and was in regular Muggle (non-wizard people) clothes as was required when wizards were in places often traveled by Muggles.

"It would be marked with the Hogwarts seal, wouldn't it?" he asked out loud in English.

Hagrid nodded heartily.  "Yer right!  I forgot that.  An' it'd 'ave to be something big so that a lot of people could touch it at once."

Miaka, who could not understand English that well, latched onto Keisuke's arm.  "What'd he say?  What's he say?" she asked pleadingly in Japanese.  With a sigh of self-pity for having an embarrassing younger sister, Keisuke began to translate for everyone who could not speak English well.

"I believe that I have discovered this "Portkey" you were discussing," said a boy in perfect English.  He had a longish brown hair held up in a ponytail, and he looked much younger than he probably was if he was going to Hogwarts.  "The "seal" you are talking about is similar to the one that was present on the letters that we have received, correct?"  At Hagrid's nodd, he continued, "In that case, then we are standing on top of it."

"We are?"

"Yes.  The seal is imprinted here," he said as he pointed to the spot in front of his feet.  The fuzzy purple rug that everyone was standing on was apparently the Portkey.

"A fuzzy purple rug is supposed to take us to Hogwarts?" asked Yui Hongou doubtfully in English.  Keisuke continued to translate.

"Yea, this would be it, "Hagrid said as he crouched down to get a better look at the seal.  "Everybody, make sure all your stuff is on it, or else it won't get taken."  Everybody complied, shifting their luggage so that it was all on the large purple rug.  "Now I'm supposed to activate it.  The word is, er, it's… Flobberworm?  No, that's not it."  The gigantic man chewed his lip reflexively.  "Billywig?"  That did not work, either.  "Now I remember.  It's Puffskein!"

As he said that, everyone on the carpet suddenly felt as if something behind his or her navel was being jerked quickly forward.  Around them, colors swirled quickly as if they were being blown around by impossibly fast winds.  The ride seemed to go on and on, and Miaka could feel herself bumping into everyone else, though everyone's hands were all stuck firmly to the carpet.

Then they all landed in some dark and old-feeling place with a bump.  Every single person, with the exception of Hagrid, was sprawled ungainly on the rug.  They had landed in a rather dreary and shabby old-fashioned bar.  There were numerous customers seated around on various wooden seats and stools, and some of the customers looked downright unusual.  A few even looked like hags or something similar.

An old, bald bartender was looking on at all of them in mild surprise.  "Oh, hello Hagrid.  I take it this is the foreign group going to Hogwarts?  Your rooms are all upstairs."

Hagrid nodded.  "Thanks, Tom.  I'll probably be takin' them around Diagon Alley later.  Good day."  With another nod for Tom the barkeeper, he led the way upstairs and addressed the youngsters.  "This is the Leaky Cauldron, a famous pub and inn in the wizard world.  Now, there's about fifty of yeh, which is larger than any group we've had from Tokyo before."

Due to some insistent poking on the part of Miaka, Keisuke began to translate again for all the English-impaired listeners.

"So yer all gonna 'ave to go four or five to a room, with a couple of yeh sleeping on the floor.  We do 'ave enough blankets and pillows to make it more or less comfortable, but yeh should rotate people between the bed and the floor while we stay 'ere."  He paused and listened as Keisuke continued to translate what he had said.  "An' we'll 'ave to get yeh down to the spell shop so that yeh all can learn how to speak English."

There were a few cheers at that, and then they all chose rooms.  Miaka ended up sharing a three-bed room with five other people.  One was Yui, of course, and the other four were Kamekara Kouran, the identical twins Chou Houki and Kourin Chou, and Haku Kaen.

Miaka didn't know why, but Houki was glaring at Kourin.  She kept on saying things like, "You shouldn't of roomed with us.  It's _wrong_."  For her part, Kourin ignored her.

Eventually everyone was assembled in the hallway again, but this time they were much less quiet as they older kids gossiped about what might happen in the new school year and the younger kids gossiped about how they felt about being wizards.  "Listen up, everyone!" Hagrid shouted over their noise.  "Get in groups of ten!  Be sure that you 'ave your money and yer school supplies list.  We'll 'ave to stop by Gringotts to exchange yer Muggle money for wizard money so that you can buy yer supplies.  I'll take yeh to the shops that yeh need to go to."

Miaka grabbed Yui's hand and paired up with Kourin.  They were eventually paired up with a group of six guys.  One was the intelligent kid from earlier, Ou Doukun.  The others were Sukunami Taka, Seishuku Saihitei, Myou Juan, Kou Genrou, and Ri Houjun.  Eventually, Keisuke also joined the group.

Hagrid took their group out first and left the older kids to make sure that no one caused any trouble.  Then Hagrid took them downstairs through the pub and then into a very small courtyard with brick walls.  There was only a trashcan.  They were wondering what was so special about the courtyard when Hagrid pulled a pink umbrella out of his pockets and counted the bricks above the trashcan.  "Three up…two across," he said and then tapped the brick three times with the umbrella.

To everyone but Keisuke's surprise, a hole grew in the middle of the brick and began to grow.  It grew larger and larger until it was a large archway that led to a twisted and turning cobbled street.  "This," Hagrid announced, "is Diagon Alley."

Diagon Alley was full to the brim with all types of shops.  There were shops with cauldrons, shops with robes, and shops with all types of spell ingredients.  There was even one popular shop that sold broomsticks.  People in wizard's clothing were shopping, making the alley seem small and crowded.  It was almost overwhelming.

Hagrid led them all to a large, pure white building that rose high above all of the other shops.  It had large bronze doors and a man-like being in a scarlet and gold uniform standing guard in front.  "This is Gringotts, the wizards' bank.  It's completely run by goblins, and no one has ever successfully stolen from it. Yeh'd be mad if yeh tried."

Soon they were inside and exchanging their money for wizards' money with a goblin sitting behind a counter on the inside of the grand bank.  Hagrid explained the money system to them as they received it.  "The small bronze ones are Knuts.  Twenty-nine Knuts go into a silver Sickle, and seventeen silver Sickles go into a gold Galleon."

After they had received their money, Hagrid gave them a tour of Diagon Alley.  Their next stop was a small shop that had a sign that read, "Specialty Spells!  Customized spells for anything you need!"  Inside was a tall, lanky blonde man in a purple robe.

"Ah, hello, Hagrid," he said when they walked in.  "Is this the new foreign bunch for this year?"

"Only part of it.  These nine," he said as he gestured to everyone except Keisuke, "need to have the Grammar-Dictionary spell done to them."

"Coming right up," said the man cheerfully.  He grabbed a cauldron and began to take ingredients from a shelf behind him.  "Let's see… We have crushed Jobberknoll feathers…" he began, and then he began to recite the other ingredients as he took them down.  Eventually he threw them together into the pot and mixed it up.  "And some Flobberworm mucus to thicken it all up."  After mixing in that last and disgusting ingredient, the man took out nine cups and ladled the mixture into them before handing the mixture to the nine slightly green children.

Juan was the first to grimace before gulping down the concoction.  After he swallowed the last of it, he said, "That didn't taste too horrible," in perfect English.  Seeing that he didn't die from it, and that he _could_ speak English now, the rest of them followed suite.  Miaka reflected that the taste wasn't bad, but she never wanted to drink anything with mucus in it _ever_ again.

After that small ordeal, Hagrid led them to shop after shop to buy school supplies.  From pointed hats to spell books to telescopes, they eventually had all their supplies but their wands.  For that, Hagrid led them to an old, worn-down shop that had painted over the door, "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."  The letters were in old, peeling gold paint.

The inside of the shop was tiny, and the ten of them were almost uncomfortably crowded inside of it.  Only one rickety chair stood by piles of long, thin boxes.  The shop was dusty and felt so much like a library that any talking between them flowed to a stop.

An old man came swiftly out of behind a pile of boxes.  He had pale eyes that were wide and shining in the darkness of the shop.  "Ah, a large group today, Hagrid," said the old man.

"That's right, Mr. Ollivander," replied Hagrid.  "There's more I need to bring by later."

Mr. Ollivander just nodded and walked up to Miaka first.  "A wand chooses its user, not the other way around.  All of my wands are made with a powerful center using the medical substances of unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstrings."  He pulled out a silver tape measure.  "Now, hold out your wand arm – the arm which you write with."  As Miaka held out her right arm, Mr. Ollivander began to measure her, but then he let go of it and it continued to measure on its own as Mr. Ollivander grabbed a box.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Miaka.  Yuuki Miaka."

He pulled a long wand out of it.  "Ten inches.  Hickory.  Whippy," he described as he handed it to her.  No sooner had she flicked it then he pulled it out of her hand and set the box on the chair.  He quickly had another one in her hand.

Soon there were around ten discarded wands piled up.  Mr. Ollivander, seemingly happy to not be finding the perfect wand, kept on digging through the pile and then putting the box away again when whatever he expected to happen with the wand didn't happen.  When it seemed as if half the store had been tried, he paused for a moment.  "I wonder…" he said as he turned around and headed to the back of the store.  Soon he came back carrying two bags.  One was red and one was blue.

From the top of the red bag he grabbed an old, dusty box and pulled a slim wand out.  "Apple, eleven and a half inches, bendy," he said as he stuck in her hand.

She felt a large, ticklish tingle as she swung it.  It traveled up her arm and seemed to go through the wand.  From the tip of the apple wood wand exploded a large red ball of light that separated into glowing feathers that disappeared as they touched the ground.  Mr. Ollivander raised his eyebrows.  "Interesting."  But he didn't say anything else.

When Yui stepped up to get her wand, Mr. Ollivander thought for a second before pulling a box out of the blue bag.  It was poplar and made with a dragon's heartstring, and from the tip of her wand shot light that looked like a blue dragon.  Again Mr. Ollivander raised his eyebrows, but he did not comment.

Houki got her wand next.  It was a nice piece made of cherry wood with a phoenix feather, though it simply let off sparkles, and not the same magnificent result that the other two had received.

Then Kourin went up for her wand, and Mr. Ollivander looked at her for a second.  He didn't move to get her a wand.  "Is there any wand," he asked, "that you feel… _unusually_… drawn to in this shop?"  She paused, and then she pointed towards the red bag.  Mr. Ollivander took the bag forward and gestured the six boys that didn't have wands over towards him.  "I believe," he said, "that these _may_ be your wands.  That is why I would like you to try them out."  When they still hesitated, he said, "Go on.  Pick the one that seems to draw you to it."

Kourin was the first one to move as the others looked at each other in confusion.  She picked a smooth willow wand out of a box and then gracefully swung it.  From the tip of her wand shot a red force that knocked Genrou into the wall.  Once he had peeled himself off, Genrou angrily went to grab a wand of his own.

"WHY YOU- YOU'RE GONNA DIE!" he shouted heatedly at Kourin.  As he waved the oak wand sharply, somehow flames flared out of the tip and ended up scorching all of the other younger wizards.

"My perfect hair… It's ruined!" wailed the sorrowful chibi Hotohori known as Saihitei.

"The stupid jerk fried me!" an indignant Taka shouted at the cruel and uncaring world.

"So what?" sniffed an unrepentant Genrou as he cuddled against his wand.  "This thing's so cool!"

Soon after that, a toasted Taka and a sizzling Saihitei also made for their wands.  Saihitei flicked his fir wand straight towards Genrou, and to the redhead's surprise, a sharp dagger flew out of the end.  Genrou sat down as quickly as he could, but the dagger still took off a few of his hairs before sticking into the wall.

Before he could breath a sigh of relief, a still-singed Taka aimed a hazelnut wood wand at Genrou.  A powerful red blast shot out of it that Genrou again barely dodged, and it only missed because he dropped flat on the ground.  It hit the dagger that Saihitei had previously thrown, and the dagger vaporized.

Doukun was watching from the sidelines with Juan.  Even if both of them were toasted, neither wanted to join in the battle.  Still, both went to receive their wands to see if they could stop the others from fighting.  The others had gotten into a fistfight now, and they were creating a mess all over Mr. Ollivanders shop.  Mr. Ollivander just looked patient, and no one else wanted to interfere, not even Hagrid, as there were many random, uncontrolled magics bouncing around the room.

As Doukun waved his maple wand, everything in the room began to be set in its place again.  Knocked down piles of wands righted themselves, a broken chair joined its separated parts back together in a squeaky racket that was similar in sound to an army of mice being stepped on by elephants, and most importantly of all, the fighting boys and girl were separated.  Doukun smiled.  "This sample of magical apparatus has been dexterous in regenerating this store's regulation, despite their tendency to also cause devastation" he said cheerfully.

Before the other children could start to fight, Juan also waved his wand while hoping it would do something helpful.  Luckily, instead of firing off a rocket or something destructive around those lines, the tip glowed red and shot off a green light at all the injured in the room.  In a matter of seconds after being surrounded by the green glow, every person in the room was healed of any injuries that they had.  "You're right," Juan agreed with Doukun.  "Wands can help people, as well as damage things."  Before Taka and Genrou could start attacking each other again, Hagrid was separating them.

Then there was only one wand left in the red bag, and Houjun waved it with some trepidation because of the effects that most of the other wands had had.  Luckily, his rowan wand gave off a fireworks show that was purely visual and without detrimental explosions.  It lasted long enough that all of the young wizards calmed down as they watched the beautiful fireworks in front of them.

As the fireworks display died out, Mr. Ollivander suddenly said, "I want you seven and Ms. Yuuki to know that your wands are brothers."

"Brothers?" asked Miaka curiously.

"Yes," he said very seriously.  "They each contain a phoenix feather from the same phoenix and a hair from the same unicorn.  It gives them a powerful connection to each other.  It is a very strange thing that those eight would be chosen today," he murmured, half to himself.  "Very strange…"

No one thought anything of it, and it was a cheerful, carefree group of children that left the wand shop and went back to the Leaky Cauldron.

**More Notes by Chibigreen:** Wow, the first version of this chapter stunk _so_ badly that I just had to rewrite it, Spanish finals or no Spanish finals.  By the way, all of the ideas for wand wood were taken from "What Tree Did You Fall From???" (http://www.netlaughter.com/funpages/tree.htm).  The trees I chose I tried to fit to their personalities.


	3. Important Notice!

**IMPORTANT!  PLEASE READ!**

I hope you liked the revised Chapter 2 more than the original one!  I also want to thank everyone for their reviews, but that's not the most important thing here!

YOU GET TO CHOOSE THE HOUSE OF HOGWARTS THAT THE SEISHI GO INTO!

That's right!  YOU, the reader, get to pick where their go into.

Will it be courageous, honorable **Gryffindor**?

Or should it be clever, honest **Ravenclaw**?

How about the honest, loyal **Hufflepuff**?  
Or does a seishi belong in the ambitious, sometimes cruel **Slytherin**?

Whatever it is, you get to vote on what you want!

Actually, I have two alternative ways of voting.

**1.) **All of the Suzaku seishi (and their miko) are in Gryffindor, and all of the Suzaku seishi (and their miko) are in Slytherin.

**2.)** You get to pick a house for each of the seishi.  You just need to copy the names below into a review and fill out your choices or send me an e-mail at furret05@yahoo.com with the filled-out form.  You don't have to fill out a house for each name.

**Suzaku Seishi and Miko:**

Miaka - 

Taka (Tamahome) - 

Saihitei (Hotohori) - 

Kourin/Ryuuen (Nuriko) - 

Houjun (Chichiri) - 

Genrou (Tasuki) - 

Juan (Mitsukake) - 

Doukun (Chiriko) - 

**Seiryuu Seishi and Miko:**

Yui - 

Ayuru (Nakago) - 

Koutoku (Amiboshi) - 

Shunkaku (Suboshi) - 

Kaen (Soi) - 

Kiba (Ashitare) - 

Chuin (Tomo) - 

Karasu (Miboshi) – 

Thank you for participating!

Peace!

-Chibigreenwizardmon


	4. Chapter 3

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.

**Author's Notes:**  AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!   SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONG!  I have the file of this chapter and the next on another computer and am retyping it from the printed copy I have just to update!  (Sign flashes above head: Criminally obsessed authoress!)

And here are the voting results!  I tallied these up around 6/30/02 and wrote the chapter where they got sorted then, so the recent votes by **Chibi Leelee Milo** and **Saihitei no Miko** were sadly not counted.  Thank you for reviewing anyway!!!  (26!!! I have 26 reviews!!! WOW!!!)

A big thank you to all of the voters: **Keinami**, **Marzoog**, **PrincessKitty-Chan**, **Kryssa**, **Akia Starfrost**, **Sansele**, **eelyn1986**, **shadow priestess**, **Misao**, **Lanen**, **Kara**, whoever that **anonymous** person was, and **Lianne**.  The key is the following: G=Gryffindor, H=Hufflepuff, R=Ravenclaw, S=Slytherin, and ?=Didn't Know.

**Miaka** – GGGGGGGG HHHH – **GRYFFINDOR**

**Taka** (Tamahome) – GGGGGGGGGG HH – **GRYFFINDOR**

**Saihitei** (Hotohori) – GGGGGGGGGGG R – **GRYFFINDOR**

**Kourin/Ryuuen** (Nuriko) – GGGGGGGGGGG H – **GRYFFINDOR**

**Houjun** (Chichiri) – GGGGGGGG RRR R/S – **GRYFFINDOR**

**Genrou** (Tasuki) – GGGGGGGGGGGG – **GRYFFINDOR**

**Juan **(Mitsukake) – GGGGG HHHHH RR – **GRYFFINDOR **or **HUFFLEPUFF** (He's going into **Gryffindor** so that he can have some company.)

**Doukun** (Chiriko) – GGGGG RRRRRRR – **RAVENCLAW** (But he needs some friends!  He's going into **Gryffindor**.  And in my opinion, he's the bravest when it counts.)

**Yui** – RRRR HH SSSSS ? – **SLYTHERIN**

**Ayuru** (Nakago) – SSSSSSSSSSSS – **SLYTHERIN**

**Koutoko** (Amiboshi) – GGG HH RR SSSS Not S – **GRYFFINDOR** or **SLYTHERIN** (He's in **Slytherin** so that he can be with Suboshi.)

**Shunkaku** (Suboshi) – GG HH SSSSSSS Not S – **SLYTHERIN**

**Kaen** (Soi) – G RRR SSSSSSSS – **SLYTHERIN**

**Kiba** (Ashitare) – H SSSSSSSSSS H/S – **SLYTHERIN**

**Chuin **(Tomo) – SSSSSSSSSSS R – **SLYTHERIN**

**Karasu** (Miboshi) – G SSSSSSSSSSS – **SLYTHERIN** (The Gryffindor vote was from someone who hadn't seen him in the series.)

**To those who wanted to see the houses of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in the fic:** Don't worry!  Some of their friends are in those houses, and I'll be sure to mention them!

~**Chapter 3**~

*_Doukun's POV_*

It is interesting to note how different the "wizarding" world is from the non-wizarding, or "Muggle," world.  I myself am from a completely Muggle family, and before I received my invitation to Hogwarts I had no idea that such a different culture could coincide symbiotically with the Muggles' and yet remain almost completely hidden from them.  I was amazed to discover that dragons and unicorns, as well as centaurs, mermaids (and mermen), and fairies actually do exist.  It is also true, however, that fairies, pixies, and the like are actually quite lacking in intelligence and are sometimes quite mischievous or evil, as unlike what Muggle press portrays them as they can be.  Unicorns, on the other hand, greatly deserve their good press.

All of this wonderful information was from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander.  The book, which was a required book for Hogwarts, was currently in my room above the tavern section of the Leaky Cauldron.

The Leaky Cauldron is really an amazing tavern, and it is one of the most famous places in the wizarding world because they serve any type of guest.  Once, I believe that I saw a vampire order a glass of blood!  It made me feel slightly sickened, but I soon recovered.  My roommates, who go by the names Juan, Taka, and Houjun, also saw that incident and agree with me that it was most likely a vampire.  I must admit that at first it was Genrou and not Houjun who was rooming with us, but Genrou continually started fights with Taka, and Mr. Hagrid eventually had to move Genrou into another room.

My roommates are quite interesting people.  Houjun has very strange blue hair that seems to stick up like a rooster tail.  I heard Genrou ask him once how much hair gel he used to make himself look like a peacock every morning.  An offended Houjun replied that it was all-natural, but even I do not believe it is ordinary.  Perhaps it is because of his magic manifesting in a strange way.  Houjun s a devout Buddhist, and he even said that he thought of becoming a monk before coming to Hogwarts.  He is very serious for his age (even I behave like a child occasionally), and sometimes he acts as mature as most adults.  He said he was perfectly happy living in the wizard-lacking Tokyo.  According to him, his family was one of the only wizarding families in all of Tokyo as most prefer to live in Kyoto.  His older brother, Hikou, is also studying at Hogwarts.

Another of my roommates is Juan.  He is tall for his age, but he has a skinny, unfinished look to him that suggests that he will one day be even _taller_ and muscular.  I have a feeling I will never grow that much.  He is almost as serious as Houjun, and he is even quieter.  I think we are already best friends.  We get along perfectly, and for us it is fun just to play a game of chess.  He has introduced me to wizard chess, which even _he_ did not know about until he received the letter from Hogwarts.  Apparently his family is all Muggle like mine, but his aunt is a witch.  She gave him the board, but wizard chess is too violent for our tastes.  Seeing chess pieces flatten each other gives me no pleasure, and I doubt that Juan truly likes it, as he wants to be a great doctor one day.  He plans to learn many healing spells while at Hogwarts.

Taka is my third roommate.  He says that he lives with his father and his four younger siblings.  All of the children show magical tendencies, but his father is a Muggle.  His mother was a witch, but she died in mysterious circumstances soon after his youngest sister, Yuiren, was born.  Taka is a nice person, and he and Genrou treat me like a younger brother (a bit to my resentment; I am almost as old as both of them).  He is protective of people smaller than himself, which is a good quality because he has enough strength and skills in martial arts that he could easily become a bully.  It is because of him that people do not pick on me for being shorter than most my age.

It is just a coincidence that we ended up rooming close to the other people who have wands that are the "brothers" of ours.  I will have to research what Mr. Ollivander meant when he said that.  But whatever it means, we have Miaka and Kourin rooming to the right of our room and Saihitei and Genrou rooming to our left.

Genrou has wild red hair and a fiery personality that makes people ask him if he is Irish, and his best friend is probably his older brother, Kouji, who is also going to Hogwarts.  He complains that he hates girls because he had five older sisters who were all witches and teased him all of the time.  Both of his parents are Muggles, but his mother has a strong enough personality to keep them all in line.  Genrou is faster than Taka, but he is not quite as good at fighting, though his temper is shorter and he likes to fight.  He is also a kind person, and he and Kouji team up to bully the bullies.

The next member of our still-forming "gang" is the narcissistic Saihitei.  He tends solely to his hair for at least an hour every morning, and I believe that he would be one of the only males willing to use makeup if it would preserve or increase his good looks.  Already at least half of the girls going to Hogwarts from Tokyo (and possibly some of the boys) are truly infatuated with him.  It's like he has his own personal harem, even if he never takes advantage of it.  He shows no interest in any of them.  I believe that he comes from a very rich and completely wizarding family.  Apparently his parents run a lucrative computer business in the Muggle world.

Miaka and Kourin can also be counted as part of our group.  Miaka has brown hair that she likes to put up in buns on the sides of her head.  She has a personality that is both gluttonous around food and friendly in a way that can only be described as bubbly, but I believe she is that way only because she loves to enjoy life.  Her older brother is studying to be a wizard at Hogwarts, her mother is Muggle, and her father is unknown to her because he divorced her mother years ago.  Of us all, she is the most child-like.  She has mentioned that she is glad that she's not finishing her school in Japan because she won't have to study for an entrance exam to a high school or college.

The last of us, Kourin, is a strange girl who doesn't seem quite _right_ to me.  Whenever I look at her, I feel that there is something wrong that I should know, but I do not know what it is.  Her twin sister, Houki, is always making comments of a sort that suggest that she knows what is so different, but she refuses to tell anyone.  Kourin and Houki have an older brother, Rokou, who is also studying at Hogwarts.  Overall, Kourin is a very nice girl.  I heard from Houki that their parents are divorced, so the twins live only with her mother and Rokou.  Her father lives with her younger sister, and they haven't heard from her in a long while.

I was shaken out of my reflection of my friends by a bop on the head from Genrou.  As I rubbed my now-aching head, Genrou said, "Hey, Doukun, are ya gonna buy an owl?"  Our group, as well as Yui and Houki, were in the store called "Eyelop's Owl Emporium."  There were barn owls, snowy owls, eagle owls, and many more housed around the room in large cages.

"I don't know," I replied to Genrou, "because there are so many to choose from, and I do not know what type of owl I want.  Which one do you want to get?"

He made a face like he had just bitten into a lemon that had turned bitter.  "I can't afford one."  His face lightened.  "But the school should have ones that I can use, and in the summer I can use my family's."  Genrou waited impatiently for another five minutes as I continued to look around.  "Have you made a choice _yet_?"

As the redhead began to look speculatively at Taka while making a fist, Houjun frantically said, "Genrou, calm down no da!"  He always had to get Genrou or Taka to not fight.  "Don't start a fight in here just because you're bored no da!  You'll scare the owls na no da!"  Did I mention that Houjun has a speech affectation that cannot be translated directly into English?  The closest approximate English phrase is "you know."

The mischief-maker protested, "I wasn't doing anythin'!"

My attention was grabbed away from that scene as Miaka's stomach growled.  She looked at a particularly fat owl, and her protesting stomach made her wonder aloud if owls could be eaten.  She earned a disdainful glare from almost every owl in the room, and the fat one hooted angrily.  Miaka sweatdropped nervously at the stares that she was receiving from anyone.  "Did I say something wrong?" she asked.  This caused another owl to make a sound that was very similar to laughing, and I walked closer to see what it was.

It was a very little owl, and it must of only been slightly taller than my hand.  It had strange, piercing green eyes and a reddish-brown streak down its forehead.  There were white markings above its eyes that seemed almost like eyebrows, and it was practically rolling on the ground with laughter.  It's laugh-like whistling call spread through the whole room.  "Chee, chee, chee!" it whistled happily.  Glares from other owls about the room did nothing to stop it.

"What type of owl is this?" I asked the owner of the store.  Mrs. Eyelop was a regal-looking young lady that reminded me of Saihitei, except it was how he would look in ten or so years if he were a girl.  "Is this a chick?"

"No, that's an elf owl.  She's only about a month old," she continued, "but she is fully fledged.  She will only get slightly larger.  Are you interesting in buying her?"

As I looked at the small owl, I knew that I would regret it if I did not purchase her.  "Yes.  How much is she?"

"Only fifteen Sickles.  Not many people are interested in buying such a tiny owl," she admitted.  I handed over the amount without any compunction, and soon I was leaving the shop with the owl's cage in my hands.  Saihitei, Genrou, and Taka had also purchased owls.  In the end, Saihitei had let Genrou borrow the money to buy an owl.

Juan, Houki, Yui, Houjun, Kourin, and Miaka made a stop at another pet store.  Yui ended up buying a tame but hyper fox while Houjun bought another fox that was much calmer, and the rest bought cats.

Juan's cat, which he called Tama, had a very strange face, as Taka mentioned.  "What's wrong with his face?  He looks so _happy_."

"I think he looks like he's wearing a mask no da."

Juan rubbed the cat's head as he sat on Juan's shoulders.  "Nothing is wrong with his face, and he's not wearing a mask.  He's just an average cat."

I kept on getting a strange feeling that none of our pets were quite as normal as the others seemed to believe, and my owl _winking_ at me while I was thinking that did not help, either.

"You're a strange little green one, aren't you?"  She cooed happily.  "Then that's what I'll call you," I said, not caring that everyone else was staring at me for talking to an owl.  "I'll call you Chibigreen."

**Author's Notes #2 (read the first part): **You're wondering right now if I am inserting myself as an owl.  No, I am not.  The owl is only _named_ after me.  The other pets will be named after various authors, too, and one of them will definitely be CLAMPraven because I _love_ her story, _Juri – From Girl to Oracle_, and she also reviewed my other story (not to mention that she put in the author's notes story of _Juri_).  Another will be Sansele because she is probably my most frequent reviewer for my FY stories.  The rest – well, I'll pick them from the reviewers of this story **(hint, hint) **and from my favorites author list.  A warning for authoresses – you may get a _male_ pet named after you.  If you **do not want** to be a pet to a seishi/a seishi's friend, say so in a review. 

In the meantime, I'll advertise one of my new favorite Harry Potter fics, **_The Amicus Charm_** by Laura Beth.  It has a yaoi relationship between Draco Malfoy (the bad Slytherin person) and Harry Potter, but (even if the characters are slightly OOC), it is well written enough that the pairing is okay (and I really don't like that pairing).  That fic is a lesson for me in how to write yaoi… Maybe it should be rated higher than PG-13, though, because I can't forget the part where they have something between masturbation and sex…  Yep, it should definitely be rated higher than PG-13.  But it's a great fic!

I'll also advertise **_What if…?_** and its prequel **_What about…_** by Skipsida.  Those two FY fics are wonderful!!!

**This chapter's vote:** Who should narrate the next chapter (since I have to rewrite it anyway)?  Please keep the choice among the Suzaku seishi, Miaka, or ReiRei.

If you want to be noted when this story is updated, leave your e-mail in a review.


	5. Chapter 4

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen owns nothing, not even one bishounen… *cries SD style* I took a few direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but this mostly comprises of the Hogwarts Anthem.

~**Chapter 4**~

*_Saihitei's POV_*

We were all packed and ready to go.  Our trunks and suitcases were carefully stacked on pushcarts with a cage that held our pets on top, and we were standing near a solid divider between platforms nine and ten.  Hagrid had told us that we were supposed to go to platform nine and three-quarters, and then he disappeared without telling us where platform nine and three-quarters was.

That meant it was a slight shock for us when the older students began to run _through_ the divider between platforms nine and ten, especially when they didn't come out the other side.

To calm our nerves, Keisuke told all of us new students that all we had to do was think that we could pass through it.  If we had magical powers, then we could.  It was that simple, he claimed.

And as I look at the brick divisor that I am supposed to run through, I realize that perhaps it is not so simple when your head is telling you that if you try, you _will_ smash into it and regret it later.  I still went when it was my turn, running so that I would not lose my nerve and actually get smashed, and through the bricks that were somehow not _there_ I came onto an amazing sight: the Hogwarts Express.

Let me elaborate.  It was not so much the train itself as the feeling that goes: _We're finally going!  We're going to learn_ magic_!_  My family being a wizarding one, I have always wanted to learn the magicks that were so important to my family.  But partly, it was the train, a red, old-fashioned yet modern train that seemed to give off a hint of old times not yet forgotten, but just changed.  It reminded me of the wizarding world versus the Muggle world, but both were somehow combined in the train.  It was also nice to look at, but it was not even close to being as beautiful as me.

When our group – Miaka, Juan, Doukun, and the others – were all across the barrier, we went into the train and chose two compartments for our use.  Each compartment contained two seats that faced each other.  The seats were large and soft, but you couldn't fit more than four per seat, and that was if you were squeezed together like sardines.  I made sure that I had enough room around me that my hair or clothes wouldn't get mussed.  It had taken me _so_ long to comb it straight this morning, and I did not want to go through the ordeal again.  I think it bothers some of my friends that I pay such detail to my looks.

Miaka, Yui, and Kourin were sitting on the seat across from Taka and I.  (My other friends had made sure that Taka and Genrou were sitting in different compartments.)  I'm glad that I had three girls my age as my friends who _weren't_ chasing after me.  The nerve of some people… I didn't need to be chased by girls, as well as some guys, two and three years older than me.  I was only eleven, and yet they already liked me because of my obvious beauty.  How weird can people be?

I sweatdropped as Miaka's stomach rumbled.  "Miaka," Taka sighed, "just how hungry can you be _all_ of the time?"

Yui said, "Actually, her stomach has been well-behaved lately.  It's usually much worse."

"Yui-chan!" protested her best friend.

"It _is_."

As if to prove the point, another rumbling sound came from her stomach.  Miaka blushed.  "Does anyone have anything to eat?"

My snowy owl hooted at this.  Like many of the owls, including Taka's Kryssa, Akia had not forgiven Miaka for the comment about eating owls.  Our pets were with us in the compartment, but because they were wizarding pets, the two owls, two cats, and one fox thankfully did not try to kill or eat each other.  Yui's white fox, Aisha, was having fun running around the compartment non-stop.  Princess, Kourin's cat, just yawned and curled up more comfortably on her owner's lap.  Keimei, Miaka's cat, had climbed up on the top of the seat and was busy trying to knock the ribbons off of Miaka's hair buns.

A woman pushed a cart full of candy up to the door to our compartment.  "Would anyone like anything off of the cart?"

Miaka sweatdropped.  "I don't have any money…" Her stomach growled again.

"I guess I'll buy some," I sighed.  Anything would be better than having to hear it through the whole trip.  Soon, a small pile of various candies, such as Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Cauldron Cakes, and other unusual candies was being passed around.  I've never had any English wizard candy, so I was slightly surprised when I opened a box of the Every Flavor Beans and bit into a brown one, only to have it turn out to be wood.  With a face, I swallowed it.

Seeing my expression, Kourin cautiously nibbled on an orange bean.  Her face lit up.  "Sherbet!" she exclaimed happily.

Soon, everyone was digging into a box of jellybeans to see what flavors they would get.  "Cheeseburger," Yui proclaimed after eating a brownish yellow bean.

Taka bit into a strange silvery one, and his eyes widened.  "Money," he sighed happily.  I'm not even going to ask _how_ he knows what money tastes like.

Another yellow one that Miaka took turned out to be… "Soap…"

After the jellybeans were finished, I took out a chocolate frog.  To my great relief, it wasn't a _real_ frog.  It was just a milk chocolate in the shape of a frog.  After some strange experiences with the jellybeans (that including tasting cat hair, hot peppers, and what I think was dirt), I was more than happy to bite into some nice and normal chocolate.  Beneath the frog was a card that had a picture and a small biography of Merlin on it.  Like all wizard pictures, it was moving.  "Interesting," I said as I put the card down.  "I think that you're supposed to collect them."

"Why worry about the cards?  You can't eat them," said the same one who had gotten a soap-flavored bean as she bit into a Pumpkin Pastie.  "This is more like it," she sighed happily.

I made sure that Miaka didn't consume all of the candy – after all, I had bought it – and stuck the extras in my trunk.  "I'm going to visit the others," I announced as I stood up and made my way to the door.  I walked down the corridor to the next compartment, where I found the wizard's equivalent of chaos.

Small fireworks were rocketing everywhere, and the effect was that various frightened pets were dashing around the room or hooting loudly in cages.  Genrou was cheering and clapping wildly, and a blue-haired teenager that I didn't recognizing was continuing to light more of the wet-start fireworks by spitting on them.  Then one rocket flew straight at my hair!  I dodged it just in time, or else my hair might have been ruined!

Doukun was simply reading a book, Houjun was trying to stop the boy lighting fireworks, Kourin's twin was sitting as still as she could and had very wide eyes, and Juan wasn't paying it any attention as he tried to calm down Tama-neko.  "Everyone, stop it!" I shouted as another one came perilously close to me.  It got their attention, and everyone froze.  "Just look at what you almost did!  My hair could have been messed up, and I spent _hours_ fixing it this morning!"  I clapped a hand to my cheek.  "And if it had damaged my face, I don't know what I'd do," I said dramatically.

I actually wasn't _quite_ that vain, but it did get them to stop lighting fireworks.  Genrou gave me a fanged grin.  (Do you know how many people have asked him if he was a _gaki_?  He has to keep on explaining that he is _not_ a Japanese vampire, but he's always had large canines.)  "Hey, Sai.  What's up?"

"I was just getting away from Miaka," I replied as I took the last empty seat.  "I bought some candy, and she ate almost half of it!  I don't see how she does it."

The shortest of us looked up with a smile.  "It's most likely the result of a high metabolism," Doukun went on to explain, "and if it is, that is why she can eat so much and still remain thin."  He went back to his book, which was entitled Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling.  I knew that he had already read through all of the other books for school.  He claimed that they were interesting, but I was still disbelieving on that subject.

"The owls are still mad at her," I commented.  "Whenever she mentions that she's hungry, at least one owl will glare at her."  The elf owl, Chibigreen, seemed to find that statement hilarious, and she began to do her whistle/laugh again.  Sansele, Genrou's owl, hooted at her, and finally she quieted down.

"I'm not surprised," Juan put in, "considering that she asked if owls were edible."  As usual, Tama was purring and sitting on his shoulders.  The cat nodded wisely in agreement.  I agree with Doukun.  That is _not_ a normal cat.

"Kouji, maybe you should go back to your other friends," Genrou said.  Another wicked grin covered his face.  "I'm sure that your cat is missing you."

"I don't see why Keinami just keeps on latching onto me," said the older blue-haired boy, who I now knew as Kouji.  "I mean, I walk into the same room as her, and BAM!  I have a cat on me."

"Maybe she thinks that you're some hot star from a TV show," he suggested.

"Give me a break, bro.  Me on a TV show?  I don't think so," he shook his head as he began to walk out.  "I just probably smell like catnip or something."

The redhead turned to me.  "If you didn't pick it up, that's my older brother, Kouji.  He's a really cool person, but don't tell him I ever said that."  I nodded.  I didn't know how it felt to have family members, but from the way my parents react to _their_ brothers and sisters, I can certainly guess.

I, too, prepared to leave.  "I believe we are almost at the school," I said to all of them.  "We should change into our robes soon."  With a cordial nod of my head (learned from the endless etiquette lessons my parents gave me), I left to follow my own advice.  And my appearance was still undamaged even after I had changed into my black wizard's robe that served as the school uniform.  In fact, the black even enhanced the looks of my face.

It was a good day, indeed.

********

When we reached the castle, Hagrid had again reappeared.  I wondered how he got to the school without using the train, but then I decided that he had probably Apparated slightly off of school grounds.  Apparating or Disapparating on Hogwarts was impossible.  Apparation/Disapparation is equivalent to the Muggle legend of "teleportation."

"Firs' years, this way!" called the gigantic man while holding a lantern in his hands.  Children began to crowd around him.  "Over here!  Firs' years!  Any more of yeh firs' years around?  Then let's go!  C'mon!"

We all followed him.  Our luggage was being taken onto the train separately, so we could walk fairly easily after Hagrid.  I almost slipped a few times as the slight path sloped down towards a forest.  Then it abruptly turned, and I received my first good look at Hogwarts.

Across a prodigious black lake, on top of a mountainous cliff, sat the humongous, amazing castle that was Hogwarts.  There were so many windows, towers, and turrets that I could not even begin to count them!  In the black, night sky, the castle seemed to sparkle beautifully.  I wondered how any Muggles missed seeing it; it was as obvious to me as a hideous wart would be if it formed on my perfect nose.  If there were Muggle Repelling Charms on it, it must have taken a horde of wizards to place them.

On the black lake floated many small wooden boats.  "No more'n four to boat!" Hagrid called as they reached the edge of the lake.  I entered a boat with Kourin, Houki, and Houjun.  As soon as everyone was in, Hagrid gave one call, "FORWARD!" and then all the boats began to move off at once.

And I began to feel seasick.  It wasn't too bad; there were any waves in the water to make it worse, but my stomach still began to protest eating those sweets on the train.  Thankfully, I didn't need to… well, you know.  It would've been disgusting, and I might of gotten something on my robes.

Then the boats reached a curtain of ivy that covered the face of the cliff, and Hagrid ordered us to duck.  We did, and through the ivy we went into a low, underground passage that led to a rocky underground harbor.  I gratefully removed myself from the boat and placed myself on the firm, pebble-strewn ground.  I was already beginning to recover.

Hagrid led us up and up through a passage in the rock, and we finally came out so close to the castle that it seemed to caste a shadow over us.  We were then led to the massive oak front door, and Hagrid knocked loudly three times.  It opened immediately.

A stern-faced woman was standing there.  She had a tight face the reminded me somewhat of a bird, but I could tell immediately that this was not the type of person that you wanted to laugh at, unless you also wanted to be severely punished.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said formerly.  It was like this was all some ancient ritual to welcome us to the castle.  But then, I realized as I took a better look at Hogwarts, it probably _was_ very, very old.

"Thank you, Hagrid," replied the tall, black-haired professor.  "I will take them from here."  I decided that they had done it so many times, it almost _was_ a ritual for them.

The witch, who was wearing scarlet robes, led us past a chamber filled with the noisy chatter of students to a small, empty stone chamber.  "The Sorting Ceremony will be taking place in a few moments in the Great Hall.  It will place you into one of four houses, which will act like your family while you are at Hogwarts.  You will sleep in your house dormitory, eat at your house table, and take classes with your house.  There are four houses each with its own noble history that has produced outstanding witches and wizards.  They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

"You can earn or lose points for your house, based on if you do good deeds or bad, respectively.  The house with the most points at the end of the year is awarded the house cup, a great honor.  Now, I suggest that you – quietly – smarten yourselves up while you wait for the ceremony to begin."  And then she left the room as various people tried to make themselves look better.  I didn't try, but I knew that I looked good.  I always did.  Except, perhaps, for when I first woke up in the morning.

"What's the Sorting Ceremony?" I heard Doukun ask Genrou.

"All Kouji told me was it puts you in one of the four houses.  He's a Gryffindor, I think."

This seemed to perplex him.  "Is there anything else about it?"  He seems to like going into situations knowing about what's going to happen.

"Yeah.  I heard that the house that you go into depends on your attitude.  Power-hungry people usually go into Slytherin – I heard that overall, that house is pretty nasty.  People that are pretty loyal get put in Hufflepuff, and the people that are more intelligent than anything else are Ravenclaws.  The bravest ones are supposed to be the Gryffindors, or at least that's what Kouji said."

The other people that heard that began to wonder what house they'd be in, and I wondered right along with them.  Hopefully, I wouldn't go into Slytherin.  I had heard from my parents that people still treated Hogwarts cautiously because the Dark Lord Voldemort had many servants (he called them Death Eaters) who had been in the Slytherin house at Hogwarts.  Some of his followers in Japan had caused the Edo School of Magic to shut down, which had caused the potential magic users in Tokyo to be shuffled to Hogwarts.  I explained all of this – quietly, as Professor McGonagall had ordered – to my friends.

Soon after, the strict professor returned.  "Form a line and follow me," the professor ordered all of us.  We fell dead silent, unusual for a group our age, and began our trek across the entrance hall and into the Great Hall.

Even while walking, it seemed to overpower the nervousness of having to face some sort of test just by how wondrous it seemed.  The ceiling _was_ the sky, or, more precisely, bewitched to look _exactly_ like the sky.  Candles floated in midair, and there were so many that they had no trouble at all in lighting up the entire hall, and it was more than large enough to fit in a large house.  There were five long, great tables in the hall.  Four were parallel to each other, and each represented one of the four houses.  At the head of the hall was the last table, and on it sat all of the teachers, with the man who must have been Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, in a large wooden chair at the center.

There was one reason why You-Know-Who, as most of the wizarding world referred to Voldemort, had been able to send Death Eaters to attack many major wizarding schools, but not Hogwarts, and that reason was solely Professor Dumbledore.  His name was strange, certainly, and he was quite old, but it was rumored that he was so powerful that even the Dark Lord had not wanted to fight him.

Professor McGonagall led us so that we were facing the tables full of students and had the teachers at our backs.  Very quietly, the professor placed a very dirty and worn wizard's hat on a stool in front of the line.  What on earth was that hat for?  And it was so _ugly_.

But then a rip near the bottom of it opened like a mouth.  "Ah, more Japanese students this year.  But some of these are very unusual." I felt stunned that a _hat_ was speaking.  Yes, I have had mirrors, chess pieces, and even _birds_ talk to me, but I have _never_ heard of a talking hat.  I figured that it probably did this every year, but that didn't explain the slightly confused looks on the faces of some of the older students' faces.  "I have a special song in store for this year, yes indeed…" And the rip opened wider, and it broke out in song:__

_Long, long ago, there was a legend_

_The stuff of tales, you see_

_About four gods that guarded us_

_On earth, in the sky, and in the sea_

_Chosen were seven stars_

_And a priestess who was pure_

_One set for each guardian_

_So that from heaven the god they could lure_

_North, south, east, west_

_Four brothers they were said to be_

_Turtle, phoenix, dragon, cat_

_Much more powerful than you or me_

_This also tells what house fits you best_

_Phoenixes are Gryffindors, courageous in the south_

_They show chivalry and justice_

_That is not just word of mouth_

_But is Gryffindor the one for you?_

_Tigers, like the Hufflepuff, are loyal in the west_

_Patient and hard working, true to the end_

_They will keep on trying longer than the rest_

_But if you do not fit there, there are two houses more_

_Such as the Ravenclaws, the wise_

_Who are clever old turtles_

_And work for the truth and not lies_

_And if you don't fit in that, there is one house yet_

_There is Slytherin, the blue dragon, cunning and sly_

_They want to gain power, to rule in the sky_

_And will win by any means that they can apply_

_But who needs to worry?_

_I'm here, so be carefree!_

_I'm a wonderful cap that can think freely!_

_To find out your house, just try on me!_

At that, the whole house broke out in applause, though some still looked slightly confused in my eyes.  The Thinking Cap (for that's what I know knew it was) must have said something unusual.  But I had no more time to think, for Professor McGonagall came in front with a large parchment scroll and announced, "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."  She opened the scroll and called out the first name.  "Ashippo, Kiba!"  A large, hulking person (for an eleven year old) walked forward and sat on the stool.  He put on the hat, and after a pause, it called out, "SLYTHERIN!"  The table that was second to the right began to clap loudly as Kiba walked over.

The first person that I knew personally to get sorted was Houki.  "RAVENCLAW!"  She went to the table that was second to the right.

Then Professor McGonagall called, "Chou, Ryuuen!" and _Kourin_ flinched slightly and walked forward.  But she had said that her real name was Kourin… Why was she answering to Ryuuen, which was a boy's name?  "GRYFFINDOR!" called the hat, and Kourin/Ryuuen went to the heavily applauding table on the far left.

A few names later, Yui became a Slytherin.  That almost biased me against her, but I reminded myself that she had been nice enough, so the house she was in ought not to matter.  First Genrou, then Juan, Doukun, Houjun, and Taka became Gryffindors.  For Juan and Doukun, it had paused slightly longer than it normally did, but not by much.  I was the next person.  "Wong, Saihitei!"

I went forward to the stool, picked up the hat, sat down, and gingerly placed the disgusting thing on my head.  "Tut, tut, that's not a very nice thought," it said privately to me.  "I _am_ a very nice hat, just a little dirty.  But as for you… you are very conceited and vain, but the amount of courage is astounding.  It's very nice.  You will make a fine… GRYFFINDOR!"  Glad to get the thing off of my head, and glad to be sorted into the same house as my friends, I took off the hat and went down to sit by them.

From my sleeve, I removed a small comb and a mirror to fix my hair as the first "W" was called.  "Weasley, William!"  A redheaded boy walked forward jauntily and was quickly put into Gryffindor.

Finally, Miaka was sorted.  "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted, and then Professor McGonagall removed the hat, the stool, and the scroll as Miaka took her seat.

There were shining, but empty, gold goblets, plates, and silverware in front of us.  To drag our attention off of the table, Professor Dumbledore stood up and began to speak.  His eyes were twinkling, and he certainly did not _look_ as if he might be more than one hundred years old.  "Hello!  It is wonderful to see so many new faces this year at Hogwarts!  Welcome to a new year!  Soon we will feast, but for now, I will say a few words before we do: Ping! Kirin! It!"  He sat down.  "Thank you.  Now let's eat!"

There was clapping and cheers from all around the hall in return to the "speech" from the slightly mad wizard.  My parents mentioned that, too.  They also said he was a genius and the best wizard in the world, but they did mention that he acted a bit unusual at times.  But he was supposedly never harmful to you, unless, of course, you were a Dark wizard aiming at taking over the world.

Suddenly, tons of food materialized on the tables.  There were many English foods that I had never seen before, but there were plenty of Japanese, and even some Chinese, food that had almost had my mouth watering.  I calmly helped myself to some varieties of sushi, wasabi, and ginger.  I noted that there were chopsticks included in the silverware, and then I began to delicately eat my dinner.  Across from me, Miaka was piling whatever she could reach on her plate and then gobbling it down.  It was almost disgusting to watch, but if I concentrated on eating the spicy salmon sushi, then I felt fine.

Then a silvery and translucent ghost floated down from the ceiling.  "Hello," he said sadly.

Kouji, who was sitting down next to Genrou, called over, "What's bugging you, Nearly Headless Nick?"

"My name," the ghost said stiffly, "is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington."

"Yeah, but you're Nearly Headless Nick.  Will you show the first years why?"

"I suppose," said the ghost, who was dressed like a medieval nobleman.  He tugged on his left ear, and his whole head fell to the side and showed quite well how he was _nearly_ headless.  I had to cover my face to not see the hideous sight.  The reactions he got seemed to please him, but he still sighed sadly.  "The Headless Hunt has refused me again because I 'lacked a proper beheading.'"  He sighed.  "I suppose that being the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower is fine, but I want to try something new…"

"Yummy!" sighed Miaka in a different manner as she finished clearing her plate for the fourth or fifth time.  It seemed that she was finally finished.  She turned to Kourin, who was sitting to her right.  "Kourin, why did they call you 'Ryuuen?'  I thought that your real name was Kourin."

She did not answer because just then Dumbledore again spoke.  As he stood, the last of the food disappeared.  "Now that we have supped and drunk, I may have a few start-of-term notices.

"Students should take note that it is advisable to stay inside, unless an adult is present.  We are still cleaning up the last of the unpleasant pranks that a Death Eater or two dropped on Hogwarts.  And under no circumstances is _anyone_ to go into the forest in the grounds.  It is, and has always been, strictly forbidden."  His twinkling eyes flashed cheerily over a few students across the hall.

"Also, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind all students that he has again updated his list of law-breaking items, and it is hanging on his office's door if anyone would like to take a look at it.  And, as always, I should remind you that no magic is to be used between classes while in the corridors.

"For second-years and up interested in playing Quidditch for your house," there were various noises of approval from across the hall, "Madam Hooch will be hold Quidditch trials next week.  For more information, you should stop by her office.

"Finally, I must warn you that Madam Pince has recently added many new protection spells to the regular and forbidden books in the library.  Be cautious about how you treat the books, or you may end up with one beating you on the head.  Be careful, and try not to die a painful death before your time.  Thank you.

"And now for the school anthem!  Everyone, sing along to you favorite tune!"  He flicked his wand, and a long, golden thread came out and formed into words.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
With Some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot."

"Music is such a wonderful magic," the headmaster said as he wiped his eyes.  "And now it is time for bed!  Good night!"  One of the older students wearing a silver badge led me and the other Gryffindor first years to our house dormitories, and we received another glance at the many corridors of Hogwarts.

It was a very confusing place, with many turns and twists to it.  In at least two places, we had to go through a door behind a portrait or a hanging tapestry, and in other places we were instructed to jump over certain steps; they were actually illusions of steps, or steps that could disappear at any moment.  Some "doors" were actually walls pretending to be doors, and the people and things in the paintings hung on the wall could actually _move_.   I'd seen that in photographs, of course, but I had never thought that the rule might apply to wizarding _paintings_.

Once we had climbed many, _many_ tiring stairs – I expected that I looked not quite as good as I usually do – we reached a dead end corridor with a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress on it.  "Password?" asked the Fat Lady.

"Patronum," replied the student who had led us here.

"That is correct," said the lady, and her portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall.  We scrambled through it, and found ourselves in the Gryffindor common room.  There were soft, cushiony seats, tables to do homework on, and a large, plushy red rug in front of a fireplace.  There were also seven stairwells visible around the room, and our guide led them up the one closet to the portrait hole.

"This is the entrance to your dormitories," he said.  "The rooms are enchanted so that a bed appears for every person sorted into the house, and the size of the room grows with it.  Your trunks, and all of your pets except for owls, should already be in your dormitory room.  Owls are housed in the Owlery.  Ask a portrait how to get there if you're interested.  The Owlery also houses school owls that you can use to mail anyone."  At the top of the winding stairs were two doors.  He pointed to the one on the left.  "This is the boys dormitory, and the other door leads to the girl's dormitory.  If you have any questions, ask me.  My name is Alexander.  I'll be in the common room for a few minutes before I go to bed."  And he left us to our own devices, so the boys and the girls went into their separate dormitories to sleep.

I looked around the room, and I noticed that there were eleven beds, but only ten boys in the room.  There was a nametag on each trunk, so I looked at the one on the bed next to mine, which was still empty after the other boys had claimed their beds.  I paled at what it read, and the boy with the bed on the other side of it, Bill (officially William) Weasley also read it and said what I had been thinking.

"Kourin Chou.  But isn't she a girl?"

And then the door to the room open, and Kourin was standing there and looking ashamed.  She – or was it _he_ – had tears in her/his eyes.  Her/his eyes lighted on her/his trunk, and then _he_ was running away and sobbing.  Neither I nor anyone else in the room had any idea on how to react to the revelation that Kourin, one of the most feminine people I had ever met, was actually… She was actually…

…He was actually a _guy_!

Briefly I wondered if my jaw had reached the floor yet.  It seemed oddly removed from the rest of my face.

**Chibigreen's Notes: **It was hard to write from Saihitei's point of view; I had to keep on reminding myself that he's pretty conceited… and rich… and that I made him come from a wizarding family, so he would know a lot about the non-Muggle world.  I hope that the chapter didn't come out boring.

The pets are all chosen! ^___^ For Koutoku and Shunkaku is **Yume no Kage** as an owl.  For Chuin (_) is **wodenschild** (sorry about that) as a cat.  **Shadow priestess** is Houjun's fox (not a toad), and **Sansele** is Tasuki's owl.  **PrincessKitty-Chan** is Ryuuen's cat, **Misao** is Houki's cat, **Merigold** is Kaen's cat, **Kryssa** is Taka's owl, **Keinami** is Kouji's cat, **Keimei** is Miaka's cat, **Fox Girl Aisha** is Yui's fox, **Chachiri** is Ayuru's owl, and **Akia Starfrost** is Saihitei's owl.  If you want yourself (as a pet) to be a special type of owl (horned, barn, barred, screech, eagle, etc.) or cat (Maine coon, American curl, Persian, tabby, calico, etc.) or to have a special coloring, just let me know via review.

Today's recommendation: **_Between Seishi and Gods_** by Kryssa, who also happens to be a reviewer for this fic!  Yay!  I love that story.

If you want to be noted when this story is updated, leave your e-mail in a review.  I won't be able to update for at least a week because I'm going on vacation.


	6. Chapter 5

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

**Note:** Did you notice that Chibigreenwizardmon is now Chibigreen Tanuki?

~**Chapter 5**~

_*Ryuuen's POV*_

I could tell that tears were pouring down my face.  How could they just say who I was like that?  I've been Kourin for _years_; ever since Mother left us and took Kourin away.  So that I wouldn't forget her, I _became_ Kourin, as well as my family's shame.  None of them, except for Houki, supported me, and she only did it because she is my twin and understands me better than anyone else.

Why did they have to find out that I was a boy?  The looks on their faces when they had realized that I wasn't whom I had acted like… Those looks had made me feel ashamed of myself.  Saihitei's look had hurt the most, showing surprise mixed with a touch of disgust.  They must all hate me because of my strangeness.

I collapsed on a stair as it disappeared underneath me, and I tumbled the rest of the way.  As I rolled to a stop, I just sat hugging my knees as a wave of sadness swamped me.  "Why did all of this have to happen?" I sobbed into the empty halls.  "Why can't they just accept me as I am?"  I buried my face in the school uniform and continued to cry.  I don't know how much time passed before I felt a hand on my shoulder.  I looked up and saw the last person that I had expected to see.

Saihitei was standing next to me with a concerned look on his face.  "Are you all right?" he asked quietly.  I buried my faced in my robes again and turned it slightly away.  But he didn't go away.

"Why are you still here?"  My robes muffled my voice.  "Aren't you disgusted by me like everyone else is?"

The answer surprised me.  "No.  Should I be?"

"I'm a nutcase, a eleven-year-old transvestite.  A weirdo.  Not even Houki likes what she calls my 'acting.'"

"_Is_ it an act?"

"Maybe.  I don't know anymore.  It was, at first, so that I wouldn't miss my sister, but now… I don't know."  Why was I even telling him all this?  It must've been because of the kind way he treated me, like I wasn't strange or that it was okay that I was different.

Saihitei nodded understandingly.  "You're not a weirdo or a nutcase, Ryuuen."  The name sounded strange coming from him.  But I guess that that it is time to use my real name again.  "You are just a regular eleven-year-old.  Everyone is different than everyone else.  Genrou has an anger problem, Miaka is obsessed with eating, Houjun has a speech affectation, and Juan prefers to talk with animals over talking with people.  If you want to dress like a girl, and you're being yourself while you're doing it, then I don't have a problem with it."

I looked at him in astonishment.  He was accepting me as I was, and he didn't think I was strange at all?  "Thank you…"

He smiled kindly.  There was a light in his eyes like he was relieved that I was feeling happy again.  "It's not a problem.  It's what any friend would do."  He put out his hand.  "So, are we friends?"

I clasped his hand, and he helped me off of the floor.  "Friends," I agreed with my own smile.  Together, we walked back to the Gryffindor dormitories.  For the first time in my life, I truly didn't care what anyone else thought about me.  I had Saihitei's approval, and that was enough for me.

*******

I'm really _not_ a morning person.  My favorite thing is to have a relaxing sleep in a nice, soft bed.  But when everyone else began to get up, Princess made sure I went to class on time by sitting on my chest and tickling my nose with her tail.  I groaned and rolled over, covering my head with my pillow so my white kitty couldn't get her paws on my head.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten the braid I always wore my hair in when I slept.  She began to bat my hair back and forth, occasionally pouncing on it while it was on my back to let me know that she was displeased with my lazy behavior.  Finally I groaned and got up, and she took my pillow immediately so that she could take a nap.  I think that my cat let her name go to her head.

Everyone else was already at breakfast by the time I got up, so for once I left my hair in the braid.  Then I quickly changed into my school uniform and left for the Great Hall.

As the first people saw me, they began whispering and pointing.  The tale of my cross-dressing must have spread through the school quickly.  Pretending that I didn't see their stares, I silently slid into a seat next to Saihitei at the Gryffindor table.  Others down the table began to turn their heads to look at me.  "I heard that she's actually a _he_," I heard someone mutter.  I turned to face that person with a polite smile on my face.

"What?  Haven't you ever seen a transvestite before?" I asked mischievously.

The person turned red and shut up.  Others at the table began to giggle, and slowly they stopped whispering and looking at me.

"What's a transvestite?" Miaka asked in between gulping down a huge omelet.

I was surprised that she even paused in her eating long enough to ask me.  "A transvestite is a person who dresses as the opposite gender.  It's hard to cross-dress in wizard robes because the girl robes and the guy robes are almost identical."

Taka had to pat Miaka on the back as she choked.  When she'd recovered, she turned to stare at me with huge eyes.  "You're a _guy_?  Is that why you weren't in the girl's dormitories?"

"Ummm," I mumbled as I served myself a waffle.  "Yes."

"Why did you cross-dress in the first place?"

I began to eat my waffle instead of answering.  How can Miaka be so tactless?

Apparently, she hadn't even started.  "Kourin?  Are you going to tell us?"

"My name's Ryuuen," I said.

"But why did you cross-dress?"

Tentatively, Doukun said, "Miaka-san, perhaps Kou… um, Ryuuen-san… does not feel like telling us?"

"Oh.  Why not?"

She wasn't getting the point.  "It's a personal reason," I finally told her.  Grinning, I added, "And aren't dresses just _so_ nice to wear?"

Saihitei was the only one to laugh at that.  The others were just turning various colors and blinking.  "Bloody weird okama," Genrou, who was sitting to my right, muttered.

"Genrou," I growled, "do _not_ call me a 'bloody weird okama.'  I'm just a transvestite, not homosexual."  He did _not_ need to be so rude about my cross-dressing.

"Yeah, right," he said sarcastically.  My fist somehow managed to bang him on the back of his head, and he shot me a glare.

"I'm gonna–" 

"If you do anything, Genrou, I _may_ accidentally let it slip to Mom how rude you were," Kouji said impishly from Genrou's other side.  The fang-boy froze.

The rest of breakfast was not a very comfortable meal.  No one knew how to act around me, I guess.  Only Saihitei acted as he normally would towards me, but at least there was that.

*******

As the first week went by, slowly my friends and I grew more comfortable with each other again.  Saihitei was _so_ nice about it all, and so was Houki.  I heard that she had badmouthed someone in her house after they had made fun of me.  Even my older brother Rokou, who was know for being a coward, was sticking up for me in Hufflepuff.  Slytherin was the only house that unified in looking down on me, but most Slytherins look down on everyone else.

The first class that we had was Herbology, which was taught outside in a large greenhouse.  A pudgy little witch who went by the name of Professor Sprout taught it.  She was the head of the Hufflepuff House, and, like most Hufflepuffs, she seemed very kind and friendly.  She explained to us that we would be studying magical fungi and herbs from around the world.

That afternoon was History of Magic, and that had to be the most boring class in the world.  I'm sure that some history classes can be almost interesting, but the guy who taught it, Professor Binns, just droned _on_ and _on_ about goblin wars and rebellions.  It made everyone want to fall asleep, so some of the others did.  I heard some fifth year students saying that Professor Binns is so old that he probably won't stop teaching until he dies.  Somehow, though, I don't doubt that he'll come back to haunt everyone by continuing to talk about the most boring history in the world.

After a good night's sleep, we started the next day's classes off with Transfiguration, taught by Professor Minerva McGonagall.  I was sitting in the front row, and she started off the class by giving us a stern lecture on how we were to behave in her class and what we would learn in it.  Then she transformed four of my books into exotic parrots before turning them back into books again.

Of course, she then told us, "You will eventually be able to do that, but that will not come until at least fifth or sixth year.  Now we will take notes on basic Transfiguration.  Take out your quills and parchment."  At least her lecture wasn't as boring as the one we got in History of Magic, and afterwards she gave us matches to transfigure into needles.  Mine became a grayish-silver, but Doukun did the best of all.  His was beginning to look more like a silver toothpick than a match.  When she saw that, Professor McGonagall actually _smiled_ and congratulated him.  I hadn't thought that she _could_ smile, with the face she had on usually.

McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor House, but that didn't stop her from piling a load of homework on us.

The other classes seemed to shoot by as well.  There was Defense Against the Dark Arts, a class that was taught by Professor Quirrell.  He had only been hired last year, so he wasn't as old as most of the teachers.  His class was neither interesting nor boring; he taught mostly by the book, but the subject material was remarkable enough that it didn't matter.  I think that I'll do some research on Defense Against the Dark Arts in my free time, just for fun.  By the sounds of it, it's a necessity in the wizarding world.

At Midnight on Wednesdays, we had Astronomy with Professor Sinistra.  In that class, we learned about the movements of the stars and planets, as well as all of their names.

Then there was Charms with Professor Flitwick, an _extremely_ small person who had to stand on something to even peek over his desk.  However, Charms is a very fun class, and Professor Flitwick is an interesting person.

The last class I had was Potions.  It was on Thursday, and our schedule said that it was Double Potions with the Slytherin on Friday.  During dinner that night, Kouji warned us about the teacher.

"D'ya see that teacher over there?" he asked as he pointed to a professor with greasy-looking hair and a scowl on his face.  "That's Professor Snape, and he's about as mean as they come.  I heard that he had some bad business with the Dark Arts in that war with You-Know-Who."

You-Know-Who was otherwise known as the Dark Lord Voldemort.  Most of the wizarding world was still afraid to utter his name, but I've heard that _he_ was afraid of Professor Dumbledore.  I wonder what that crazy old wizard who runs the school actually knows if he was able to keep Voldemort away from his school?

"I don't know why Dumbledore keeps him around," Kouji continued.  "I mean, Dumbledore's the most powerful Light wizard in the world; I heard that he was in Gryffindor a _long_ time ago.  But Snape is a slimy git, as the British people here would say, and he favors Slytherin because he's the head of their house.  He's _always_ giving them points, but if a Gryffindor so much as raises their hand the wrong way… Bang!  He takes some of our points away.  He made it really difficult for Gryffindor last year."  His tone of voice was innocent, but by the gleam in his eyes I figured that some of the 'difficulty' was partly his fault.

I decided to just try my best.  So far, school was fine, I had a lot of friends, and no one had called me a homo or weird for the past three days.  I was sure that the school year was looking up.  Professor Snape really couldn't be that bad, right?  I sipped at my pumpkin juice and decided not to worry about it.

**Chibigreen's Notes: **Nuriko seems to be a person that makes you _want_ to write angst for him….

Today's recommendation: **_Blackbird _**by Purple Mouse.  It's the one about Ryuuen being in a mental hospital and getting Myojuan as his psychiatrist.  That one makes me feel so sad for Ryuuen, but it's a wonderful story!

If you want to be notified by e-mail when this story is updated, leave your e-mail address in a review.

**Vote:** Which Suzaku seishi should narrate next chapter?


	7. Chapter 6

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

~**Chapter 6**~

_*Houjun's POV*_

I had a feeling of unease as both the Gryffindor first years and the Slytherin first years walked into the dungeon where Potions was taught.  Doukun had told me that he'd read that Slytherin and Gryffindor had always traditionally hated each other.  There was a feeling of tension hanging in the air as the two houses sat apart, except for Miaka and Yui.

I found myself seated by Juan.  We took out our supplies as Professor Snape walked in.

His black hair looked unbelievably greasy and limp, like he never washed it.  There was a grimace on his face like he thought we were the most putrid bunch that he had ever seen.  The only smiles he had were for the Slytherins, and I had a very bad feeling about taking this class.  To my left, I noticed that Juan did not look any more reassured than I was.

The professor stepped up to the front of the classroom and turned around to face us.  His robe's swishing was heard easily in the silent dungeon.  Dark eyes glared at us from under greasy, limp hair.  He spoke to us in the silence that no one dared to break.  "We will not be wasting time with silly charms in this class.  Here, you will learn, if you can, how to make truth serums so powerful that none can resist it.  You will learn how to brew potions that can do things that no ridiculous wand waving can ever hope to accomplish.  If you survive, you may even learn how to brew death."  His voice was not raised at all, but everyone could hear him.  "Form pairs now.  We will start on the first, simplest potion you will ever make immediately."

Juan was trying his hardest to make our potion come out correctly, but it seems like every time I looked away, he managed to somehow make it stop bubbling or it turned the wrong color.

"It's supposed to be green no da," I said pleadingly as I stared between him and the black liquid bubbling in the cauldron.  "It looks like _tar_ no da.  Did you remember to mix the horned slugs in slowly no da?"  His sheepish face told me all I needed to know.  Sighing, I stirred the pot slowly and balanced out the other ingredients before it returned to its original color.

"I'm sorry about that," he said.

I smiled.  Smiling is much better than frowning no da.  Hmm, that's strange; I usually don't have 'no da's in my thoughts.  "Don't worry, no da.  It's fixed now, na no da.  I'm sure that you'll get better at potions soon, no da."

The boil-curing potion had finally returned to its correct color.  I took it off the burner and added in the last ingredient, porcupine quills.  The rest of class was unremarkable, for a wizarding class.  Somehow everyone managed to survive.

*******

Next Friday night, I was carefully practicing charms with Doukun.  The kid is obsessed with learning, so I decided to help him out.  Some spells are practiced best in pairs, and it would give me an edge over other students in my class.

I stood opposite the dormitory door.  Doukun looked up from a manual in Japanese that he had ordered by owl entitled **_Charms and Spells for Beginners_**.  "Alright, Houjun, the next spell I want to try is the Disarming Spell.  This one _should_ be simple.  All that you have to do is point your wand towards me and say, 'Expelliarmus!'"  He demonstrated the hand movement.  "We'll do it at the same time, okay?"

"Yes.  On three?"  He nodded.  "One.  Two.  Three.  Expelliarmus!" I shouted as he did.  Red, sparkling light shot out of our wands and hit each other.  For a few minutes, nothing happened, but then my spell overpowered Doukun's and hit his wand.  It shot out of his hand and jumped towards me, so I caught it before it hit the ground.  I threw it back towards him.

"It looks like I need to practice the spell more," he said ruefully.  "I _thought_ it was an easy spell."

"You did it fine, Doukun, no da.  I've just had more practice with magic, na no da.  You're doing great, no da!" I said encouragingly.

He smiled back.  "Thank you.  Let's go on to the next charm!  This one's used to unlock doors.  You just point at the lock…"

*******

It was Saturday night, and I was deeply asleep.  A sudden movement in my sleep woke me up.

"Itai!"

I found my face in the carpet when I woke up with a bang.  I had fallen off of the bed.  I groggily was crawling back in when I felt a slip of paper between the mattress and the bedstead.  I pulled it out, but then I remembered that it was night and I wouldn't be able to see it clearly.  I stuck it under my pillow and decided to read it in the morning.

When I finally woke up again, it was late.  Everyone else had already left for breakfast, but I was really wondering about the paper.  I took it out and began to read what was written on it.

"Hello.  I am known as Prongs, and I would like to congratulate you on finding the Marauders' Map.  To use it, just touch it with you wand and say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'  When you're done, be sure to clear the paper.  Tap on the paper and say, 'Mischief managed.'  Try not to be caught by Filch!  My advice: Get an Invisibility Cloak.  I took that, but I left this map here for another Gryffindor to find.  Have fun!"

Out of curiosity, I touched the letter and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, no da."

Nothing happened.

I strained to refrain from using 'no da.' "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?"

Again, nothing happened.  Perhaps the letter was not the Marauders' Map?  I looked under my bed again, and sure enough, I found a blank piece of paper.  I lay my wand on one corner of it and repeated myself.  "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, no da."

Lines of ink began spreading from the tip of my wand.  There were many colors, and when the first part had finally finished drawing itself, moving labeled dots appeared.  My jaw dropped as I realized what I was holding.

It was a very detail map of Hogwarts.  Perhaps it was the only map of Hogwarts in existence.  And the labeled dots were people in the castle.  One was labeled 'Albus Dumbledore,' another was labeled 'Houjun Ri,' and a third was labeled 'Shun'u Kou.'  I recognized the last as being Genrou's real name, and he was coming here.  I had a feeling that the map _might_ not be the best thing for him to find, so I said, "Mischief managed."  The map disappeared just in time for me to hide it in my trunk.  Even as I closed it, Genrou walked into the room.

"Hey, Houjun, what's takin' you so long?"

"A-ah, nothing," I replied hastily.  "I just overslept, no da. What's up?"

"The others wanted me to tell you that breakfast is ending.  Just thought that you might want to know," he said casually as he walked back out.

I hadn't eaten a large dinner last night, and I was very hungry.  My stomach growled loudly.  "Wait for me, Genrou, no da!"  I ran out of the dormitory, completely forgetting about my new map.

*******

A couple of weeks later, I was walking out of class with Juan discussing his latest mess-up.  He _had_ improved in Potions, but he was still making a few mistakes occasionally.

"I don't know what's wrong," he said glumly as he looked as his hands.  The solution, which was _supposed_ to keep the body parts it was applied to warm, had instead turned his hands a bright rose red.  As it hadn't hurt him, Professor Snape had refused to let him go to Madame Pomfrey, who was the nurse or the 'mediwitch.'  "I just forget to add something, or I put it in too quickly or too slowly."

I was making a mental note to talk to Doukun about the Marauders' Map.  "Um, at least you're improving no da," I said brightly.  He just sighed sadly.

When we reached our dormitories, I noticed one important fact: My fox was gone!  "Shadow is missing, no da!"  I began to search every nook and cranny for my little fox.

When he heard my exclamation, Ryuuen also ran into the room to check on his pet.  "Oh, no!  Princess isn't here, either!"

Juan was looking under his bed.  He finally stood back up, but there was no sign of his cat.  He shook his head sadly at my unspoken question.

"We'll find him, no da!"  I promised.  "Even if we have to search the whole castle."

Genrou, who was sitting on a window seat, spoke up.  "There's no need for that," he said with a glint in his eyes.  He gestured behind him.  "I just saw them out there.  They were heading for the Forbidden Forest."

"WHAT?!" the three of us shouted at once.

"Ya heard what I said.  They're out there."  He grinned, and two long, fang-like canines showed.  "We'll have to go out there and look for them, won't we?  Everyone can go!"

"But… we're not allowed to, no da," I said helplessly.

"That doesn't matter.  This is going to be so much fun!"

I began to wonder if the spells I had learned would be enough to keep me alive on my journey of the Hogwarts grounds.  There was a reason why the Forbidden Forest was forbidden.

I just hoped that nothing was wrong with our pets.  How had they gotten out, no da?

**Chibigreen's Notes: **Aw, isn't Houjun so cute?  He's my favorite character, so I won't torture him… much… I think.  But sorry for the shorter-than-usual chapter.  The next one will be _very_ interesting, I promise!

Oh yeah, I'll _probably, most likely, under any circumstance_ write in some Ryuuen/Saihitei romance.  ^___^  I do love that couple.  But there's not any Tasuki/Chichiri in this one… I read too much of that stuff, and so I gave myself the challenge of writing a non-Tas/Chi fic.  *gasps*  The horror!

Oh, and I think that someone asked about the title a while ago.  Well, the truth is, I'm not _quite_ sure how it ties in myself.  But it does tie in; I have _several_ options on how to tie it in.  It all depends on how the story flows.

**Kryssa** – Oops, did I make some people hate Miaka?  I was just trying to show her as a bit childish, because she _was_ at the beginning of FY.  I'm glad that you liked the Saihitei and Ryuuen scene.  ^___^

**Athena Masterson** – Thanks for the compliment.  ^___^  I really didn't think that combining HP and FY was _that_ special…

**TA Maxwell** – Ah, don't worry.  Nuriko's going to be paired with Hotohori as soon as they both grow up a bit.  (I mean, they're still 11!)  And yes, you can be Hikou's pet.  A white fox it is…

**Sansele** – I never thought that someone would want _Hikou_ to narrate.  But, sorry, he can't… I just can't get into his personality enough to write from his POV.  I can get into _Miboshi's_, but not Hikou's.  I might try one day, eventually… But Nuriko's not going to have a horrible life in this fic!

**Keimei** – Sorry that Genrou didn't narrate, but he should do it sometime in the next two chapters.  I'm not sure if he's going to next chapter or not, but if not, it _will_ be the chapter after that.

**shadow priestess** – The class descriptions gave you flashbacks from the books, you mean?  I had to use _some_ type of reference, you know, and I didn't want to go into detail about the classes.

**Skipsida** – I know that Mits is usually neglected, but he's an integral part of this story.  Healers are always important people in stories 'cause they have to fix up the other characters so that they can survive long enough to _stay_ main characters.  ^___^  It _would_ have been fun to have him narrate this chapter, but the masses picked Chichiri.

Also, a thanks to **Merigold**, **Chibi Leelee Milo**, **wodenschild**, and **Saihitei no Miko a.k.a. Sanomi** for the nice reviews.  ^___^

_And there are more character's pets!_  I decided to look over the reviews and grant spots, if I could.  Let's see… *takes out list*  **TA Maxwell** is Hikou's snow fox, **Athena Masterson** is ReiRei's cat, **Chibi Leelee Milo** is Tetsuya's owl, **Fire-fairy** is Keisuke's owl, **SilvaraWilde** is Shouka's cat, and **Skipsida** is Kouran's cat.  All of these pets will appear _at least _once in my story.

Today's recommendation: **_It WAS a Normal Day at the Market _**by Kaze-chan.  It's about the adventures of Subaru and the other Byakko Shichiseishi around the time of Byakko's Summoning, and it's a _really_ nice story.

If you want to be notified by e-mail when this story is updated, leave your e-mail address in a review.


	8. Chapter 7

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

~**Chapter 7**~

_*Tama's POV*_

My tail waved happily as I walked a few feet into the large forest.  Humans called it the 'Forbidden Forest,' and it _was_ dangerous no matter what species you were.  But we, the pets, were hardly going into it.  We're not crazy, and we do not have a death wish.  A few feet into the Forest would not endanger us because we are special.

I'm serious.  We are.

By 'we,' I am talking about the pets of both the Seiryuu-Slytherins and the Suzaku-Gryffindors.  There were also a few others that had one of us special pets. There was at least one of us in every house, so that it was balanced.

I looked at Shadow, who was pacing by my side.  "Are they going to follow us?"  I can't talk in human speech, but all animal species can understand each other.

"If they know where we are, they will," she replied.  "Is that a problem?"

"I don't know.  It might be," I said as I carefully jumped onto a fallen tree.  I paused to clean my paw.  "Is everyone here?"

Owls, cats, and some other foxes appeared from the forest.  There were around twenty other pets in all, including Shadow.  The owls took up perches in trees, while the cats and the foxes gathered around the log.

"That's good."  I gave my paw one last lick before settling down on the log.  "We all know why we're here, right?"

"No!" hooted Chibi the screech owl.  It wasn't Chibigreen; it was Chibi Leelee Milo, the pet of Tetsuya, the Ravenclaw.

"We have no clue," agreed Fire Fairy, Keisuke's owl.

Skipsida, Kouran's cat, guessed, "It has something to do with some of our humans, right?"

I nodded.  "Right!  Eight of the people in Gryffin-dor and another eight in Sly-ther-in are _very_ important."  It was hard to pronounce the names in cat speech, which was known to some humans as Ailurin*****.

The elf owl, Chibigreen, whistled playfully from her perch in a young sapling.  "I know why!  I know why!  The beast-gods-guardians have chosen, chosen them!" As an afterthought, she added, "And us!

"The beast-gods?!"  Shadow, as well as the other pets, looked almost stricken.  "_We_ were chosen by _the beast-gods_?"

Some took it more calmly than others.  "This is quite a twist of fate," the Lynx Siamese named Silvara with only a slight movement of her ears.  Her human was Shouka, a Ravenclaw.  "Are all of our humans chosen?"

"No," I replied.  "In Gryffindor, the seven stars of Suzaku are Taka, Saihitei, Ryuuen, Doukun, Houjun, Genrou, and Juan.  The priestess is Miaka."

One owl, Yume, rustled her feathers.  "I know who the stars of Seiryuu are.  My Koutoku and Shunkaku are two, and the others are Kaen, Chuin, Karasu, Kiba, and Ayuru.  The priestess is Yui."

"If that's the case, then why are there more than sixteen pets here?" asked Woden, the cat of Tomo.  "I thought that the number of chosen pets was supposed to equal that of the warriors."

"Not necessarily," I said wisely.  "You see, the chosen animal's purpose is to make the summoning easier for the priestesses.  Unlike the stars, we are not forced onto one side or the other.  We can join both, and bring about harmony between the gods."  All of them were now paying attention to me.  The other pets were Chachiri, Aisha, TA, Sansele, Akia, Athena, Merigold, Princess, Keinami, Keimei, Misao, and Kryssa.

TA, a snow fox who stayed with Hikou, said, "How exactly do we help summon the gods?  I mean, they are all-powerful beings.  Why do we even need to summon them?  We're fine by ourselves."

I reminded myself that foxes were _very_ independent.  Almost more than we cats are, for foxes are used to making their own choices in the wild.  When a fox becomes a pet, it is usually at its own choice.

Doukun's owl disagreed.  "No, we're not!"

She was right, too.  "The small one's right.  We can't be on our own.  Think of it this way: The four gods represent the four different main aspects of the world.  They are not just aspects of the _spiritual_ world, but of the physical and magical worlds as well."

I licked my lips before continuing, "Try not to think of them as gods.  Instead, think of them as extremely powerful guardians.  When something disturbs the balance of the world, their power is also disturbed.  It doesn't matter which aspect of the world is disturbed; their power is unbalanced and they need to be summoned in order to make the yin equal the yang, so to speak.  The summoning brings good luck to the chosen summoners, but it also sets the world right again.

"If we did not summon them, the whole world will be destroyed," I finished.

Sansele wondered, "What threw the out of balance in the first place?  Why do we only have two sets of star-warriors?"

The mythology that all animals knew did say that most times, all four gods were summoned at once.  Since I had been getting my information from Fawkes, a phoenix that roosted in Hogwarts, I knew why the case was different this time.  "Around a hundred years ago, the Byakko seishi and the Genbu seishi summoned their gods.

"A terrible magical war, unnoticed by the non-magic humans, had destroyed the balance between those two gods especially.  Also, the sudden modernization of Japan helped to unmake the balance.  But the summoning was successful enough that their power survived through the wars that hit afterwards, both Muggle, with the Wars of the World, and magical, with the Dark Wizard Grindelwald and, more recently, Voldemort.  The powers of Genbu and Byakko are still sufficiently strong enough that summoning the other two god-guardians, Suzaku and Seiryuu, will restore the balance once again.  We need to help it for it to be completely successful."

A silence settled over us.  The other pets now knew all about the summoning that I did, and we would need to make a choice.

The stillness was broken by Aisha, the white fox.  "Uh-oh," she said, cocking her head.  "I think that our humans are calling for us."

"They'd be really freaked out if they saw us gathered together," Keimei noted as her tail rose.  "We should leave."

With various noises of agreement, we broke up the group.  "Meet back here Halloween night!" I yowled over my shoulder.  "Remember!"

I don't think that my human or the teachers will appreciate him having to chase after me.  I was going to run for the school, but a sudden thought hit me and I froze in my paw prints.  What if Juan ran into something bad while outside?  I had sniffed or sensed many traps while on my way to the meeting.  He didn't have as good of a nose as I did, and he could run into one!

Quickly, I turned around and began to streak towards where I smelt him.  I needed to get to him before he got hurt or killed!

As I ran, I heard screams and yelling coming from near the lake.  Was I already too late?

***Ailurin:** In the stories by Diane Duane, The Book of Night with Moon and To Visit the Queen, cat 'speech' (part of it is based on physical movements) is called Ailurin.  I decided to use that in my story, too.  I am in no way associated with any of Diane Duane's stories.

**Chibigreen's Notes: **Sorry for the short chapter, but I haven't had much time to write non-school work lately.  If you had a hard time keeping track of the pets, I kept a list here (http://chibigreenmagic.tripod.com/fushigiyuugi/pets.htm).

Fifteen reviews from one chapter!  Wow!  Thanks!!!  I would have made more people into seishi pets, but… I'm kind of running out of room!  Unless someone wants to volunteer to be Miboshi or Ashitare's pet? *crickets chirp* Well, because I'm running short on time today, I'm being brief for my replies.  I figured that most people would rather see the story out faster with less replies than wait an extra day for a story with many replies.

**Keimei** – I'm not doing Tasuki/Chichiri because I just feel like Kouran/Chichiri and ReiRei/Tasuki are great couples, too!

**Athena Masterson** – I think that Mitsukake's going to be narrating the next chapter.  ^___^

**Skipsida** – Mits will be next. ^___^ The Seiryuu will come eventually, too.

**Sansele** – Thanks for correcting me on the Marauder's Map thingy.  It's fixed now.  You see, I couldn't find my copies of the HP books.  ^__^;;  And Mits isn't good at Potions because…um…I want every character to have some type of problem.  Though I don't know what Chiriko's problem is going to be.

**Hotaru** – Sorry, you can't be Tenkou's pet.  He doesn't exist in this story… I think.

And I'd also like to thank **SilvaraWilde**, **Saihitei no Miko a.k.a. Sanomi**, **Siryn13**, **Purple Mouse**, **shadow priestess**, **Kryssa**, **TA Maxwell**, **Chibi Leelee Milo**, **kuja**, and **Taichi's Girly** for reviewing.

Today's recommendation: **_Risen _**and it's sequel, **_Fallen_**, by Ryuen.

If you want to be notified by e-mail when this story is updated, leave your e-mail address in a review.


	9. Chapter 8

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

~**Chapter 8**~

_*Juan's POV*_

Why did Tama run into the Forbidden Forest?  I know that he's a very smart cat, so I know that he must have had _some_ reason.  I became even more suspicious when I discovered that all of the other pets had gone out, too.

Tama is smarter than I thought if he knows how to open doors and get through the portrait holes.  Maybe Doukun was right about him not being normal…

In any case, I knew that I had to go out and find my cat.  Saihitei had suggested using his owl to find the other pets, but the owl that belonged to him was also gone.  So were the other owls that belonged to my friends.  Whatever was happening, it was _very_ strange.  Then again, random things happened at Hogwarts all of the time.  I think that magic has never been fully controlled by wizards or witches.

I put my mind back onto the disappearance of the pets.  It was the reason why I was outside right now and searching for Tama.  With me were Miaka, Genrou, Doukun, Ryuuen, Saihitei, Houjun, and Taka.  Somehow, we had been able to sneak outside without our teachers noticing.  If we were caught outside, we would be in _huge_ amounts of trouble.

"I'm starting to get a bad feeling," Doukun said quietly as he looked around nervously.  "I feel like something's going to happen."  I was probably the only that heard or paid attention to him.

Whether it's magical or not, Doukun's hunches are usually right.  Once, he had a hunch that Professor Snape was going to give us a pop quiz the next day.  He was right.  Another time, he had been particularly cheerful before dinner.  "I have this feeling that they're going to serve sweet and sour chicken!  It's my favorite," he had said to me.  At dinner, we had discovered that he was right.

That's why I paid attention to him now.  My hand drifted towards my wand.  I might not know many spells yet, but surely there's _something_ that I could do when whatever's freaking out Doukun happens.  I noticed that Houjun's hand was also going towards his wand; maybe I'm not the only one that heard Doukun.

Genrou tripped on a rock and slammed hard into the dirt.  "Crap!  That hurt," he complained as he stood back up.  Clods of dirt and grass were stuck in his hair, and he began to brush them out rapidly.

"You know, doing that, you look like a squirrel," Taka remarked as he watched his friend continued to get the dirt out.

"Hey!"  Obviously, the redhead took offense to that.  "I dare ya to say that again! You're like a little ghost: we can hear ya and see ya, but ya got nothing backing up your great big mouth!"

"Fang Face!" Taka shouted at him.

"Little Ghost!" Genrou returned.

The two glared daggers at each other.  "Calm down," I said to them.  "If someone hears us, we're _all_ going to get in trouble."  They didn't look impressed.

They said, "So?" while continuing to glare at each other.

Miaka looked between the two with a slightly nervous but mostly annoyed look in her eyes.  "Just think about this: What if it's Professor McGonagall that catches us?"  They both gulped at the thought of the formidable teacher getting angry at them.  "Or Professor Snape?"  Taka and Genrou's faces were an identical pale shade.  I could understand why; Professor Snape would be happy to take away _all_ of the points that our House had.  The two turned away from each other and pretended that a fight with the other wasn't worth it to them.  My friends are all such unusual people.  Then again, in a world where magic is real, is anything normal?

"Well, no da," Houjun said with a grin, "we should continue, na no da.  Nice job, Miaka," he added in a softer voice.  "We don't need them fighting, especially not now."  She grinned and made a victory sign.

We began to walk again, but Taka didn't watch where he was going because of his little verbal fight with Genrou.  That's why he stepped on something that he shouldn't have.  He only felt it slightly, looking down at his foot with a puzzled expression as he felt the ground sinking.  "What…?"

When someone says, "What…?" that way in a story, usually something bad happens.  When someone says, "What…?" that way at Hogwarts, usually something very strange happens.  I thought of that in the split second between Taka's "What…?" and the ground falling beneath our feet.

We didn't scream or have time to scream because of falling; we only fell a few inches.  Then something welled up from the ground and coated our shoes with a slimy, yellow-green substance.  A pool of the gunk formed around us.  It had a vaguely shiny look to it that reminded me of a wet frog.  Cautiously, I tried to take a step out of the pool… and then I could not stay still.

"WHOOOOAAAAA!"  I'm usually a very quiet person.  I don't speak unless I want to, most of the time, but it's really hard to keep quiet when you can't stop slipping.  'W-WHOOOAAAA!!!"  The potion – which the yellow stuff must have been – created a smooth coating between itself and everything else.  It was like skating on the smoothest ice of all time, but on this ice I had no way to stop.  I slipped, I slid, but somehow I stayed upright as I skidded right towards the Forbidden Forest.

I wonder how much it hurts to hit a tree going around twenty miles per hour.  I don't want to find out.

I could hear my friends try to come after me, but of course the potion has reduced the friction on their boots, too.  When they got out, they _all_ began to slide, and that meant eight people were going uncontrollably towards the Forbidden Forest, where'd we hit the trees at such a speed that even Madame Pomfrey would have a hard time patching us together again.

"Sit down no da!" Houjun shouted suddenly.  "Just do it!"  He sounded so commanding that everyone did as he said right away.  It was hard to make myself lose my balance.  I knew that the ground hurt much less than a tree would have, but it still wasn't pleasant when I hit it.

"&@%$, that hurt!" was a certain redhead's comment.  I had to agree with his exclamation.

"What does &@%$ mean?" the most intelligent of my friends asked.  I sweatdropped.  Doukun's a genius, but he's unbelievably naïve about some things.  Did he ever watch TV…?

None of us had time to answer.  We heard another set of screams, and soon after eight speeding blurs rammed into us, literally and painfully.

When everyone had sorted themselves out and sat up (standing up was impossible), I was shocked by who had run into me.  It was a Slytherin; specifically, it was Koutoku, one of the Slytherin twins.  Around us were other Slytherins: Chuin, Kaen, Ayuru, Karasu, Shunkaku, and Yui, Miaka's best friend.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Ayuru asked us coldly.  Despite his arrogant attitude, I noticed that his shoes were also covered in the potion.

I replied before any of my more smart-mouthed friends could answer.  The traditional Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry could begin at any time, but it really wasn't needed when we were already breaking the rules.  "We're looking for our pets," I said simply.

"Hmm…" Ayuru appeared ruffled at the reply.  He lapsed into silence.

Yui was the one to explain that their pets had also run away.  There was no doubt in my mind now: the pets were up to something that they didn't want us to know about.

A sudden weight on my shoulder told me that Tama-neko had reappeared.  "Where have you been?" I asked him as he worriedly twitched his tail.

_"Just meeting with the other pets.  They're my friends, and we like to talk about…stuff,"_ he meowed at me.  I took that to mean that it wasn't really my business.  _"When I heard you screaming, I was worried that there was something wrong."_

"…" I contemplated over.  "How did you get outside?"

_"A secret passage here, a hidden staircase there… You know, the usual."_  He was either being slightly sarcastic or dead serious about it being 'the usual.'

"A hidden staircase is _not_ usual," I informed him as I tried to get up… and promptly fell back on my behind with an 'ouch!'  The slippery junk on my shoes was not coming off anytime soon.

I noticed the stares of my friends and the Slytherins.  Blinking, Koutoku said, "You…were talking…to a _cat_?"

_"It seems like you shocked them,"_ Tama observed with amusement.  _"And don't try to get up again with those shoes on – falling jars me horribly.  By the way, the other pets are back at the castle now."_

"Yes," I replied to Koutoku's question as I removed my shoes.  "I can understand cats."  It felt like they were boring holes in me with their eyes as I calmly stood up with my shoes in my hand.  Changing the subject, I said, "If you take your shoes off, you'll be able to walk properly.  Tama says that the other pets are back at the castle."

"Really?  Then we should be going, too!" Doukun said cheerfully as he stood with his shoes in his hands.  Apparently, he had already thought of the solution to the friction-reducing potion problem.

With some of the Gryffindors and Slytherins casting untrusting glances at each other, it was a relief to slip back inside the castle and part our separate ways.  Luckily, no teachers had noticed our absence, and so there was no problem between the two differing groups splitting apart.  No one thought anything more of the incident; they were just glad that their pets were back.  But Fate has many ways of getting opposites to become allies.

I thought I felt some strange connection with them, but I could not see any reason why.  It was like trying to draw in a missing piece of a puzzle without ever having scene it before.  I was clueless, like I am at Potions.  And about potions…

The library is always a pretty quiet place. Madam Pince makes sure of that, and any disturber of the peace is likely to regret it.  She's a very clever witch, at least when it comes to the hidden charms and curses in her books and in her library.  I was in there with Doukun and Houjun to research potions and (hopefully) improve my grade just a week after the mysterious pets event.

Dejectedly, I set down the book that explained how to make a potion that would repair skin.  "I don't know why it's so confusing.  I was great at chemistry in my Muggle school, but Potions just doesn't make sense.  It's like the 'Potions' part of my magic has been switched off."

"Maybe it is, no da.  At least if you remember the ingredients, your grade won't drop too much, no da.  You get down the instructions perfectly, but any potions that requires wand-stirring goes wrong for you, na no da."

Most wizards would not understand exactly what 'chemistry' or the phrase 'switched off' meant, so it said a great deal about Tokyo if even pureblood wizards like Houjun knew what I was talking about.  Sometimes Muggle inventions are convenient for wizards, too, I suppose.

"I guess you're right…" I sighed.  My Potions grade wasn't _too_ low since I have begun to work hard at memorizing the ingredients and instructions.  It'd actually been rising slightly after Houjun had guessed that my magic had something to do with it.  Since he was my Potions partner, I just left the stirring to him.  The mishaps were growing much less frequent.  "It's around dinner time, but I'm going to study.  You guys go on down."

"Are you sure?  We could wait for you," Doukun offered as he picked up his books, but his stomach growled slightly.

"I'm sure.  See you later."  I turned back to my books as they left.  I _really_ needed to study the skin-repairing potion.  We were having a quiz on its preparation tomorrow.

After a few minutes, I realized that I had better get down to dinner, so I went to check out the book.  On the way to the desk, I heard a two students whispering.

"Aniki, are you sure that the book's in _this_ aisle?"  It was Shunkaku, Koutoku's twin brother.  "We can't find it!"

There was a laugh.  "Shun-chan, calm down.  We'll find it; don't worry.  Remember, it's title is _Healing Potions Made Easy_."

I looked down at the title of the book I had in my hand.  Sure enough, I was holding the book that they were looking for.  My conscience kicked in.

_'They might need the book more than you do… Should you give it to them?'_  My conscience is very loud.  Maybe I should give it to them; I _think_ that I have the potion memorized.

"I still can't find it, Aniki!  Where _is_ it?"

"I don't know, Shun-chan," Koutoku said worriedly.  "But we need it for the potion to heal Yume.  She looks sick, and that book has some great potions for the treatment of owls in it!  At least that's what Professor Snape said."

For me, that clinched it.  If it was for a pet's sake, I was definitely giving the book to them.  Though the Slytherins, as a whole, usually tried to ignore Gryffindors, I didn't have to be cruel back.  Slowly I walked towards the aisle where the two Slytherins were.

Koutoku and Shunkaku looked mildly surprised at my arrival.  "What're _you_ doing here?" Shunkaku asked with a sneer.

Quietly, I handed the book to Koutoku.  "I overheard you talking.  I was using it to study, but it sounds like you two need it more."

"Ah… thanks," Koutoku was taken aback.  "Um… Why are you being nice to a Slytherin?  Aren't you a Gryffindor?"

"Aren't reasonless rivalries idiotic?" I returned.  "Besides, I see no reason for an animal to stay sick because of humans being mean to each other."

"Thanks," Shunkaku said grudgingly.  He seemed both relieved and disgruntled.

"No problem."

I turned to leave, but Koutoku said, "Wait.  It's Juan, right?"  I looked back and nodded.  "If you ever need help, just ask us."

"The same goes for you."  About to turn and leave, I hesitated.  "Friends?"

Both nodded and replied as one.  "Friends," they said affirmatively.  I had a good feeling about this friendship.  It was like I had remembered where the missing puzzle piece was and now I was one my way to find it so that I could finally complete the puzzle.

The established competition between Slytherin and Gryffindor was a thing of the past, at least for me, and, hopefully, my new friends.  And it was all because of one sick owl.  It couldn't be just a coincidence that it was one of the pets at the source of the change, could it?

**Chibigreen's Note:** Wai!  Another chapter done, and this one is Mits' point of view.  I was surprised at how many fans were clamoring for him to have a chapter up.  But it's nice to know that he's liked.  ^___^  I used to be a big Mits fan myself.  So, ah, here are the replies to the reviews.

**Kryssa**, **PrincessKitty-Chan**, **Keimei**, and **shadow priestess** – Thank you for your nice reviews!  ^___^

**TA Maxwell** - I'm glad that some people don't mind the lack of Tas/Chi. But Chiriko may or may not have a problem with Herbology.  It's undecided.

**Scythe** – Sorry, but there won't be Kneazles or Crupps.  I know what they are, but I try to keep the pets thing fair by making the pets some type of _normal_ animal.  Thanks for the nice comments.

**Skipsida** – No, Miboshi and Ashitare will not steal pets, and Ashitare will _not_ end up with a cat.  ^___^ The idea is amusing…

**Draconsis** – Genbu and Byakko probably will have a representative at Hogwarts, though it could be a human, pet, or ghost… You, a Byakko pet?  …I'll think about it.  No promises yet.

**Chachiri** – A pessimist could come in handy.  ^___^

**Ryuen** – If you like Raistlin from Dragonlance, I can see why Snape's your favorite.  Tasslehoff from Dragonlance and Lupin are my favorites.  I find Snape and Raistlin…creepy…  ^___^;;

**Sansele** – Hai, I was planning to have Chiriko afraid of flying…slightly.  Not much.  After all, he _is_ under a winged god.

**Saihitei no Miko a.k.a. Sanomi** – Yay!  Someone volunteered to be Miboshi's pet!  ^___^ Happyhappyhappy!  Ahem.  Don't worry; he won't be too evil.

**Flying heart** – Mitsukake isn't good at Potions _now_ because I thought that would be a good problem for a doctor to overcome.  It's that simple.  He'll get better…eventually.

Today's recommendation: **_Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter_** by DeeChan.

If you want to be notified by e-mail when this story is updated, leave your e-mail address in a review.


	10. Chapter 9

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

~**Chapter 9**~

*_Genrou's POV_*

It was Halloween, and Hogwarts was busting out the decorations for a _huge_ feast.  Celebrating Halloween must be a big thing for a magic school.

When Hogwarts has a feast, they mean business!  I thought that the meal at the Sorting Ceremony had been huge, but this…!  There were so many different varieties of pumpkin-flavored food that they could have been made a good-sized feast on their own.  There was pumpkin juice, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pudding, pumpkin pie, and so much more.  There was tons of other non-pumpkin foods, too.

My friends all looked like they were enjoying themselves.  Miaka looked as if she was in heaven as she ate from a very loaded plate.  In between scarfing, she would look in awe at the lit jack-o-lanterns that had replaced the usual candles.  The entire Great Hall was decorated in orange with some black here and there, and a happy mood seemed to have descended on everyone at once.

There was even some people moving between the different Houses' tables and talking to friends.  Usually, other kids discouraged their friends from mingling between Houses, but tonight, no one seemed to care too much.  I wasn't too happy myself when Juan started to hang out with Koutoku and Shunkaku, but they spent as much time at the Gryffindor table as they did at the Seiryuu table.  Actually, they were probably at the Gryffindor table more often because Slytherins looked down on most Muggle-born wizards.  Koutoku and Shunkaku were half-and-half, so the others didn't bother them too much.

Koutoku's not such a bad person.  He's kind towards everyone, no matter what.  He would've made a good Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, or even a Ravenclaw.  I think that he's only in Slytherin for his brother – though I have no idea how he arranged that with the Sorting Hat.  For me, it was: I put the Sorting Hat on my head, and it told me to go to Gryffindor.  Simple.

Though Koutoku and Shunkaku are twins, they are radically different.  Where Koutoku is calm, Shunkaku is angry.  They do get along very well, but that's partly because Shunkaku has a streak of loyalty in him.  When he considers someone his friend, he'll do anything for him or her – which is a trait I normally respect, but he takes is way too far.  Does he even have a mind of his own when it comes to people he adores?

My brother is strange, too.  I watched as Kouji piled a strange-looking wasabi on a piece of sushi.  Whatever was in the center of the sushi, I had a feeling that it wasn't fish.  When the thing was coated with the spicy sauce, he plunked it in his mouth with his chopsticks.  Gleefully, he chewed and swallowed it before going on to prepare a second one.

He held one wasabi-covered sushi in my direction with his chopsticks.  "You should really try this, Genrou!  It's great!"

I looked at it dubiously.  "You've gotta be kidding me."  Was that orange sauce even real wasabi?

Miaka bounced in her seat.  "I'll take one, Kouji-kun!" she said happily.  Kouji plopped one down on her plate, and she quickly ate it.  I'm not going to be outdone by a girl!  Grimly, I also grabbed one of the strange sushi and bit into it.

The taste was unbelievably good!  As I finished the first bit off, I realized that it was pumpkin-flavored imitation wasabi with pumpkin sushi.  It was great!  I grabbed another while observing Miaka's reaction.

Her color turned pink and slowly went red.  Her mouth was gasping because of the intense heat of the wasabi.  "HOT!" she finally shouted, and then she dove for her pumpkin juice.

I shrugged and continued to eat.  Spicy food is my favorite type of food.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a red flash of light crossed my vision.  Then I no longer saw the great hall.  Instead, I saw a gigantic fire.  I felt like I was standing in it, but it did not burn.  A might firebird rose into the sky…

A blink later, and I was back in the Great Hall.  The vision was gone.

Kouji was staring at me with a dumbstruck look.  "Were you…?"

I blinked and rubbed my eyes.  That vision had probably just been my overactive imagination.  "What?" I asked absently.

He continued to stare at me.  "I could've sworn… Ah, never mind.  It was probably just me."  He still looked slightly dazed, but I just shrugged.  It was most likely something completely unimportant.  Though…that vision… It had certainly been strange, especially if it was just my imagination.

*_Tama's POV_*

A flash of blue and red together, and then the two eggs were gleaming in front of me.  The pets had gathered again on All Hallow's Eve to receive the earthly incarnations of Seiryuu and Suzaku.  None of us had expected them to be _that_ young, but I quickly thought up a plan.  A satisfied smile curled my lips as a purr came from deep within me.  The warm contentment that the eggs emitted just had that effect on everyone.

"We did it," another pet muttered tiredly.  It had taken a lot of channeled strength to bring the incarnations into this realm.  It might have been Sanomi, Karasu's new silver tabby, who had murmured that.  I really couldn't tell.

One of the other pets called out, "What're we going to do with the eggs now?  I wouldn't trust some of the humans around them until they've at least hatched."

"Two owls should carry them to the Owlery.  They have some nests there, and they can be hidden in the owl roost until Christmas.  They'll be about ready to hatch then, and so we can give them to our humans," I replied.

The owls agreed tiredly.  Two picked up the sapphire egg and two picked up the ruby egg, and then they flew off.

Remembering something, I called out, "Make sure that you humans stay at school over their holidays!"  Pets meowed or hooted in agreement as they left the clearing.  With a flirt of my tail, I also vanished into the night.

*_Koutoku's POV_*

Something had happened.  There had been a flash of blue, and then…then I saw something.  Had it really been a blue dragon that I had seen diving from thunderclouds into a lake?  Why would I see such a thing in the middle of a feast?  For when the dragon hit the water, I was jolted back into reality, which was the Halloween feast.

I had been in the middle of a discussion on Potions with Juan and Doukun.  Shunkaku had gone back to the Seiryuu table out of boredom a few minutes ago.  My two friends also looked shocked, but they were the only others I saw with that expression on their face.

"Was that a phoenix?" Doukun wondered aloud.  "In a fire?"  Juan shrugged and nodded at the same time, but I shook my head.

"I saw a dragon in a lake, not a phoenix in a fire," I contested.

"But we all saw _something_?" he demanded to know.  "We're not going crazy?"

Juan shook his head.  "I doubt that we're going insane if we all saw something at the same time.  Even if it was something different, the chances of that point to magic, not insanity."

I considered this.  If it had been magic, it could have been just a harmless prank, or it could be a portent or an omen.  "What should we do about it?" I asked Juan.

"I don't know," he replied.  "Perhaps we shouldn't do anything."

Doukun spoke, sounding unusually fatalistic.  "I don't think that there's anything we can do."

That was a depressing bit of food for thought.  What if he was right?  But we slowly relaxed, and the subject of Potions came up again.  There was going to be a big test the next week, and Juan wasn't sure if he had the formula memorized yet.

********

I could practically see a sadistic gleam in Professor Snape's eyes when he approached Juan's table.  Houjun was currently stirring the potion with his wand after he and Juan had both put in the ingredients.  Snape rested one hand on their desk, and then he said, "Mr. Myou needs to take a turn stirring now."  His tone brooked no argument, and the look on his face suggested that trying to disagree would make them lose points for Gryffindor.

Snape _is_ sometimes too mean to the other Houses.  He tends to discriminate against them, Gryffindors especially, but he doesn't do anything bad to Slytherin at all.  The only reason that we earn a lot of points is because of him, really.

Juan looked between his want, the potion, and Professor Snape.  I knew that he was good with all parts of making potions except for the stirring.  Every time, his wand did _something_ strange.  I remember that it had made one potion – a potion that should have been for protecting trees from magical and nonmagical pests – into a very strong form of whiskey.  Snape had nearly burst when he saw it, especially when he identified what it was.

Of course, Genrou had said something along the lines of, "Hey, Juan, can ya make that potion for me and Kouji?" with a playful grin.  He's strange, but brave, I have to admit.  Only a brave or a stupid person would backtalk to Snape as much as he does, and I don't think that he's the second one.

Now Juan was reluctantly holding his wand and stirring the potion.  The whole class watched with their breath held, waiting to see what would happen this time.  Not a few of the other Slytherins were wondering gleefully how many points Snape would take away from Gryffindor.

Nothing happened.  The potion stayed a pale white and slowly became smoother and thicker, like it was supposed to.

Professor Snape looked puzzled for a second, but then he – almost – smiled.  It was more like an almost-smirk.  "It seems like you finally did something right, Mr. Myou.  Now you get to test it out."

It was a lose-lose situation.  If something were wrong with the potion, Juan would find out the hard way.  If it were made correctly, he wouldn't have time to find out.  The potion was a sleeping draught for people with insomnia or narcolepsy.  He looked again between the potion and Professor Snape, and he stopped stirring.  Then he grabbed a beaker, dipped it carefully into the potion, and drank a small amount.  He carefully put down the beaker and sat down on the floor before he fell asleep.

I wonder why he finally made a potion correctly?  He's never done it before.  I'm glad that he finally succeeded after trying so hard.

********

"I can't believe that Juan kid actually made a potion correctly today," Chuin commented disdainfully as we – the Slytherins – sat around our House's common room.  Chuin was not too nice towards most people; I'm not quite sure why, but he's the type that 'hates the world.'  The only possible exception to that is his cat, Woden.

I tried not to pay attention to them insulting my friends.  I wasn't exactly comfortable around my year group in Slytherin, but beggars can't be choosers.  I'm just glad that the Sorting Hat let me stay with my brother.  He's slightly hotheaded, but he's actually a very nice person.  We don't fight that much at all.

Shunkaku is also much more outspoken than I am.  "Don't insult Aniki's friends!" he said sharply toward Chuin.  It's kind of funny that he refers to me as 'Aniki,' or 'older brother,' even when we're speaking English.  It must be habitual.

At first, I wondered why _more_ people didn't drink the potion that we did to learn English.  It turned out that it was usually rather expensive, and it had to be made on the home soil of the language that the potion included.  On top of that, it had to be drunk within five minutes of being made, and it had to be drunk in the same country it was made in, too.  Potion-learned languages also did not stick in a person's mind unless they spent at least eight months of the next year in the country where the language was made.  Overall, it was very inconvenient, and hardly that useful for most tourists.

"I can insult whoever I want to!" They exchanged glares.

I noticed with amusement that Chuin and Shunkaku looked about ready to get into a fight.  Sometimes Chuin won, sometimes Shunkaku won; it depended on how desperately the former wanted to preserve his looks, and how angry my brother was.  "Calm down.  Professor Snape will take points off you if you two fight again," I pointed out.  He might favor the Slytherins in Potions and around the school in general, but he didn't tolerate breaking the rules in the dormitories or the common room.  Too many Slytherins would misbehave horribly if he weren't slightly strict.  That's one thing about Snape: he knows how to get his House to respect him.  It's like McGonagall with the Gryffindors.

Reluctantly, my brother and Chuin settled back down.  They knew that they'd regret breaking the rules if they did again.  The last time, they had both lost a point for Slytherin and had spent an hour cleaning suits of armor in one passageway.

The others were smiling or rolling their eyes at the usual conflict between the two.  Ayuru, as usual, looked superior to all; Yui and Kaen began to giggle, and Karasu simply stared at them like they were idiots.  He has that attitude towards most people.  Kiba was just studying and didn't pay attention to any of it.  He was not very good in any of his classes, so he had to study for them almost as hard as Juan usually studied Potions.

It's a strange little 'group' we have, I suppose, but we usually get along well.  Sometimes, conflicts come up, usually between Chuin and Shunkaku or Chuin and Kaen, but usually it's okay.  After the Halloween party had ended, we found out that we all had had the same vision of the blue dragon.  If it had just been my brother and I, then I wouldn't have been surprised.  We often share dreams and thoughts, and sometimes even pain.  This was something different.

I was broken out of my thoughts by Kiba asking for someone to help him study Herbology.  "Sure, I'll help," I volunteered.  Mentally shaking my head, I pushed the thought about the strange dream back.  I could reflect on it another time, but right now I had to help my friend.  At least, I _think_ he's my friend.  In Slytherin, it's sometimes hard to tell.

**Chibigreen's Notes:** I needed to get Genrou's POV in, yet fans were clamoring for a Seiryuu – I hope that I merged it well enough! ^___^ And… this story was pretty easy to write.  My muses were well fed on all of the reviews.  Speaking of which:

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  ALL OF THE REVIEWERS HAVE HELPED ME BREAK 100!!! ^________________^ Happyhappyhappyhappy! *takes deep breath*  Happyhappyhappyhappy-

Rime: Shut up and reply to the reviews. *can't stand the happiness*

Chibigreen: Oh, all right…  ^___^

**Kryssa** – Don't worry; the Seiryuu won't all be evil because I love having sadistic good guys!  ^___^  Also, some (like Amiboshi) aren't evil at all.

**TA Maxwell** – Yep, Amiboshi is definitely a nice guy!

Anonymous – Sorry, Kaen already has a pet, you know?

**shadow priestess** – I know the feeling about getting jealous about reviews.  And you want your fox identity to snuggle up to Chichiri, huh?  *idea!*  MWAHAHA- Ahem.

**angel-miaka** – Harry Potter won't be in this fic because this happens _way_ before he knew he was a wizard.  It wouldn't fit into my plot at all.  It'd be fun to do…but no.  (Ron Weasley is a possibility, though.)  And you did the 100th review!  Congrats.  ^___^

**Skipsida** – I agree that Sanomi deserves a medal for volunteering to be Miboshi's pet.  And…I got glomped?  (Well, that's a first…)  Sugar can be dangerous.

**Flying heart** – Sorry, but I don't have room for any more pets…unless you want to be Ashitare's owl or mouse (I'm not going to give him a cat).  And thanks for adding me to your favorite authors list! *goes starry eyed*

**PrincessKitty-Chan** – You're obviously being your normal, hyper self.  And yes, Mitsukake can talk to cats.  I decided it fit his character.

**ember-fang** – You're on the update list for this now.  ^___^

**SilvaraWilde** – Amiboshi is my favorite Seiryuu, too. *V-sign*

**Draconsis** – So many people wanted a Seiryuu this chapter… I was surprised!

**Keimei** – I'm glad that the irony was appreciated.  ^___^  And Taka and Genrou are going to have a whole lot more fights in the future, especially now that they've invented nicknames for each other.

**Sansele** – I make sure that the insertions _don't_ bog down the plot because they're just a little thing I did for fun.  It was basically a choice of making up my own names for pets or having people make up the names for me.  Anyway, insertions are always interesting.

**Saihitei no Miko a.k.a. Sanomi** – Sure, Sanomi-neko can be stuck-up and smart… I might not mention the pets often, but when I do, I'll put in something about that.

Today's recommendations: **_Bridge Over the Abyss_** by roku kyu.  It's a prequel to her **_White Stones in the Moonlight_**.  Considering that _White Stones_ pushes a Tasuki/Miaka pairing, I wonder why I like it so much.  It _has_ to be good if I ignore my hatred of Tasuki/Miaka pairings just to read it.  And _Bridge_ focuses on Chichiri.  That's always a good thing.

If you want to be notified by e-mail when this story is updated, leave your e-mail address in a review.

Which Seiryuu seishi do you want to narrate next chapter?  I was thinking of using Chuin…


	11. Chapter 10

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sama owns Harry Potter and Watase-sama owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

~**Chapter 10**~

*_Chuin's POV_*

People can be so boring.  Life can turn monotonous with the same people doing the same things; never changing, never ending.  Truthfully, that is one of the reasons I was so unexcited when I received a letter saying that I was going to go to a school for magic.  Magic, to me, sounds so dull.  In most stories about magic, people show it as something that takes so much precision to learn, and if you don't say or do the spell right it doesn't work at all.  I found that it's not quite that way in real life, much to my delight.

Magic is so strange and complex that even experts like Professor Dumbledore don't fully understand it.  New things are constantly being discovered, and people have been using it with finesse way before most sciences even began to be used.  That's not because wizards are somehow better than Muggles.  It is just easier to find raw materials for magic instead of raw materials for science.  I mean, what's easier: pointing a wand and saying 'Lumos' to produce a light, or making a light bulb from metal and glass?  It's obviously easier to use the wand, if you have magic.

Some of my housemates seem to think I dislike everyone else.  Shunkaku constantly complains about me annoying his 'aniki.'  I can't help it if my views clash with Koutoku's.  I am myself, and I will not change myself to please other people.  Koutoku sometimes bothers me – not deliberately – because we just don't think the same way.  Personally, I think that Koutoku needs to stand up for his own opinions more instead of passively accepting others' views.  With Shunkaku constantly acting overprotective, I doubt that will happen very soon.

Filch interrupted my thoughts.  The mean idiot was in charge of handing out detentions whenever rules were broke out of class.  I had made the mistake of poking at one of the paintings in front of Mrs. Norris, the stupid cat.  Within a few seconds, Filch was there and he quickly assigned me a detention for the next day.  So here I was, standing in a room full of old and derelict paintings.  He grinned nastily at me.  "Since you like poking at paintings so much, you can clean all of these.  Don't leave until you're done," he said, and he swept out of the room and closed the door behind him.

I had carried the cleaning supplies up the steps (Filch's way of starting detention early), so I bent down to sort through the junk and see what I had.  Perry's Perfect Painting Cleaner, a brush, a bucket of water, a towel, and a note that I wasn't allowed to use my wand.  I snorted at that.  I didn't know any spell for cleaning paintings in the first place, and if I did I still wouldn't use it.  What if the spell went wrong?  Then I'd have been in an even bigger mess.  Yes, being raised in a Muggle-ish way in Tokyo does have its advantages.  Both my parents are wizards, but it's hard not to know Muggle ways after living in Tokyo.

Filth covered the paintings.  It took a hard scrub to remove all the dirt and dust from each painting, but some of the people I saw in the paintings were quite interesting.  There was a jester in one – he continually cracked jokes as I cleaned the other paintings – and a stable full of domestic animals in another.  As soon as I cleaned that one the animals began to clamor to get out, so I found a nail sticking out of the wall and hung the picture there.  Then the animals escaped into the outside picture-worlds.  Down the stairs, I could hear humans yelling as dogs barked and horses neighed.  The animals had caused quite a commotion.

Soon there was only one more painting for me to clean.  When I was done, I, to my complete surprise, saw a picture of two young men in antique wizard robes hugging and about to kiss.  I coughed politely.  "People can see you two now, you know…"

One looked up in surprise.  "What?  Why did you clean it?"  His arm remained around the other guy.

I felt horribly uncomfortable.  My face was probably a bright red right now.  "It was my job.  I'm in detention."  I know that some guys like other guys, but the thoughts of guys liking guys like some liked girls made me feel strange.

The two looked disgruntled.  "After all this time finding a private spot," muttered the second.  "Kid!  Give us some privacy here!"  Obediently, I turned the picture around and leaned it against the wall.  Quickly, I picked up the cleaning supplies and left.  There are some things I'm just don't want to know, and why exactly they wanted privacy is one of them.

From there, my day just got worse.  Or maybe better.  I'm not quite sure.

I walked down a hall, across a room painted completely pink, through another hall, and began to descend the stairs to the Great Hall.  _Wham_.  I ran right into someone while walking down the stairs.  He was about to fall backwards, but I instinctively grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.  The result: both of us smashed against the stairs, with me landing on the cleaning supplies and the other kid smashing into the wall before hitting the stairs.  "Itai…" we both said at the same time.

I took a second glance at the guy I had crashed into.  At least, I thought it was a guy.  With long purple hair –must've been a side effect of his magic – and feminine features, he looked almost like a girl.  I could barely tell the difference.  But that description sounded familiar… A Gryffindor that I didn't really know at all, but I saw him in Potions occasionally… His name was Chou Ryuuen, or Ryuuen Chou if said in the Western way.  "Watch where you're going, Chou," I told him sharply.

"You're Ruo Chuin, right?" he replied more than asked.  It slightly surprised me that he said my name in the Japanese style.  "You could've avoided slamming into me, too."  I scowled.  I shouldn't have caught him if he was going to be so rude about it.  But then he said, "Sorry.  I know it was also my fault.  Thanks for catching me before I lost my balance."  That caught me off guard.  Frankly, I hadn't really expected him to thank me because people from different houses generally just didn't get along.

To avoid saying 'You're welcome,' I picked up the cleaning supplies and stood up.  "It was just a reaction.  I didn't do it on purpose."  Chou seemed taken aback at that.  "Anyway, I would've had to drag you to the infirmary if you had gotten yourself knocked out."  Would he get the hint that I didn't want to talk to a Gryffindor?

Apparently not.  He stood up and dusted his clothes off.  "You still saved me from a trip to the infirmary."  He glanced at me.  "You don't have to accept my thanks if you really don't want to.  What were you doing up there, Ruo?"

My scowl deepened.  Didn't carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies drive home the point that I had had a detention?  "Call me Chuin," I said instead of answering.  I don't like to be called by my family name because I don't like my family.

"Call me Ryuuen," he replied automatically.  "Or don't.  If you want to be so rude," he said with a slight edge of irritation in his voice, "then why be rude on a first name basis?"

"Some of us," I replied coolly, "don't like being reminded that we're actually related to our families."  He cringed at that; I must have struck a nerve.

A small frown appeared on his face for a moment.  "Yeah, I suppose I can understand that," he said softly.  Then the frown was gone, but he wasn't smiling.  He simply brushed past me and walked up the stairs.  I felt slightly guilty about upsetting him, but I told myself that it really didn't matter.

********

It was just three days later that I found myself in detention.  Again.  But this time, Ryuuen was there, too.  The room we were in felt old, but not musty.  There were piles of books on the floor and a few empty rows of bookcases.  Our job was to sort the books by language and then alphabetize them.  The librarian wasn't doing it because these books were not part of the official library since they were in foreign languages.  "What did you do to get in here?" I asked Ryuuen as I went to the tallest pile.

He smiled sheepishly.  "I got in trouble for wandering around the school at night.  I couldn't sleep," he added to answer my unspoken question.  "What did you do?"

I sighed.  "I accidentally spilled some water and cleaner on the stairs when I bumped into you, and it stained the rug."  I placed some books that I think were in Spanish on one shelf.

"Sorry."

What was he apologizing for?  "It's not your fault.  I wasn't paying attention, either."

"I know."

I rolled my eyes.  "Then why are you apologizing?"

Ryuuen made a sound of slight disgust and irritation.  "I thought it'd help you cheer up.  Just because we're in detention doesn't mean you need to be depressing.  I mean, jeez," he said as he sorted through some other books, "it'd just make a boring job worse."  He studied one book in his hand.  "I think this one is in Greek."  He vanished behind a bookshelf with a handful of books.  We worked in silence for perhaps half an hour except to ask the other where a certain language went.

The purple-haired girly-boy intrigued me.  He was nothing like any of my housemates at all.  One minute he was trying to cheer me up, the next he was telling me off – politely – for being rude.  I didn't even really know the guy.   Slowly, the silence got on my nerves.  "What did you mean when you said you understood people not liking being related to their families?" I asked suddenly.

He seemed startled by the question.  Ryuuen seemed tense, so I didn't pressed it.  A few minutes later, I could barely hear him when he said, "I can't blame you for being curious."  Louder, he continued, "My family is kind of messed up.  A few years ago, my parents broke up.  My dad got custody of my older brother and I, but my mother got my little sister, Kourin."  I was watching him now.  He looked troubled, and was chewing his lip nervously.  "I really missed her.  She was almost like my twin.  So, I decided that if I dressed and acted like her, it'd be like she was still around."  He laughed cynically at himself.  "My dad didn't like that, as you can imagine; I was grounded for a while, until he realized he couldn't force me to act differently.  My brother, Rokou, basically ignored my existence.  That's why I said I understood."

I was stunned.  "Oh… Um…" And I thought that _my_ family was messed up.  Maybe having your parents argue often and sometimes ignore you wasn't so bad.  "I'm sorry."

He waved it off.  "No, no, it's okay.  Is you family pretty bad, too?"

"You could say that…"

An hour later, we were comparing the teachers of Hogwarts to different animals.  "Professor Bins does remind me of a goat," Ryuuen agreed with a giggle as he stuck the some of the last books into their proper shelves.  "What do you think of Professor Dumbledore?"

I didn't really hear him.  Two books on the shelves caught my attention; I knew that I hadn't put them there.  The sides had Chinese written on them, and when I pulled off one with a red cover it was inscribed with a small golden picture inside a silver outline of a diamond.  "A phoenix…"

Ryuuen hadn't seen what I had, so he thought I was just talking about Professor Dumbledore.  "I suppose that could work.  He does seem old enough."

His comment brought me back to reality.  "Oh, no, I was just talking about this book I found.  It has a golden phoenix on the cover.  And this other one," I said as I pulled out a similar book with a blue cover, "has silver dragon.  They just piqued my curiosity."

When he walked over to see what I was talking about, I handed him the one with the phoenix.  "Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho," he murmured as he traced the Chinese symbols with one finger.  "Four Gods Heaven Earth Book…" A strangely serene feeling descended upon us for a moment, and the pictures on the covers seemed to briefly shine.  It was probably just a beam of light coming in from the window.  We soon placed the books back on the shelves, but I felt strangely disoriented.  Ryuuen didn't look much better.

"I'm going to go back to the dorms and study," I said, still in a slight daze – from what, I didn't know.  "Talk to you later?"

Ryuuen nodded distractedly.  "Yeah… See you in Potions," he said with a wave as we parted ways.

********

An hour or two later, I looked up from studying a chapter in my Transfiguration book as Ayuru walked in.  With him was – of all people that I did _not_ want to see today – Kaen.  I'm sure that she's a very nice person in her own way, but the way my personality clashes with hers compared to the way it does with Koutoku's is like comparing getting hit by a bullet to getting bitten by a flea.  She's such an unbearable flirt, but she only tries to get on _my_ nerves.  Everyone else gets along with her.

I could see her eyebrows rise elegantly in surprise when she noticed me.  "Oh, Chuin… Are you studying?"  She wrapped one arm around Ayuru.  "I knew that you had to be failing in at least one class.  Isn't that right, Ayuru-san?"  I seethed at her insults, and she 'couldn't help' but notice.  "Jealous of my grades, Chuin…? Or is it something else?"  That increased my irritation.  I told myself that I wasn't jealous of her being closer to Ayuru-san than I was, but it felt like a lie.

"Kaen," Ayuru said with a roll of his eyes.  "You're not my girlfriend.  Let's just study for Charms already."  As they walked off, I suppressed a sigh of relief, but was it about Kaen finally shutting up or the fact that she wasn't that close to Ayuru?  I feel very confused.  Do I have a crush on Ayuru?  Does that mean that I'm… gay?  Note to self: Do not become romantically involved with anyone.  Not for a few years, or at least until you have what gender you like sorted out…  And beneath all the confusion, my mind was still focused on that strange book.

_Translations:_ Itai = Ow/Ouch

**Chibigreen's Notes:** I just noticed that I forgot to write a chapter for Tamahome… Oops.  I'll have to fix that in the chapters I have planned for Christmas.  For side note, I felt in the mood to write some shounen ai today because I just listened to this really cool song called 'Coming Out'.  It's by Megumi Ogata, but she's singing the part of a guy who's coming out of denial.  It's really kind of cute, especially with the translation.  You can download it, if you want, at Strawberry Sherbert.

And to relieve any worry that any of you might be having, _Ryuuen is going to end up with Sai_.  Eventually.  But for now, Chuin and him are going to have a friendship – nothing more.  I really would _not_ like to write any story dealing with a Ryuuen/Chuin pairing at all.  _  But, they seem to be in similar…predicaments…so they can be good friends.  ^___^

**TA Maxwell** – Eh? You can't eat Seiryuu's egg!  It's still needed for the story.  ^__^;  Though Suzaku's egg… ^_~

**Keimei** – Don't you worry!  Genrou's short chapter will be made up sooner or later… Specifically, it will be whenever I write the chapter about their Christmas.  That's one thing that I need to feature from both sides of the spectrum.

**Singing Nightingale** – I'm happy that you enjoy the fic so much!  ^___^

**ember-fang** – You'll always be Chibigreen's loyal follower?  I'm sure she's happy to have one!

**Kryssa** – I hope that you do like the way that the Seiryuu are portrayed in this fic.  I like making the bad guys good!

**Kyra** – I have foreshadowing?  Eh, guess I do… *didn't notice*  I'm glad that you like how I showed Doukun with ESP-ish abilities, and I know the feeling about crossovers making one edgy at first – it happens to me, too.

**Draconsis** – Don't worry!  Kaen will be appearing very soon… Possibly in the next chapter.

**shadow priestess** – I excluded Genrou's accent mostly by accident, but I might go back and revise that later.  And someone can't step on a egg and blow up the school, sorry.  ^__^;;

**Amiboshi and Company** – I can't do more in Koutoku's POV right away because he just did a good part of the last chapter… However, I'll try to get Shunkaku in soon.

**Skipsida** – Yes, yes, Tomo _is_ cool, but you have to admit that he isn't exactly polite towards others.  But don't worry, he's actually nice in his own way.  He's a fun character to mess around with… I mean, to write into the story.  ^___^

**Flying heart** – Wai!  Thank you for adding the story to your favorite's list!  *gets starry eyed*  ^___^  And a big THANK YOU for volunteering to be Ashitare's owl!  The poor guy needs a pet.  (A werewolf having a pet called 'Flying Heart'… Strange…)

**Chachiri** – Oh, believe me, Genrou is going to set things on fire… It wouldn't be Genrou if he didn't!

**PrincessKitty-Chan** – Glad you liked it!

**Sanomi** – Don't worry; I'll make sure that Miboshi is nice enough to leave his cat alone in this story.  And he'll preferably leave little kids alone, too…

That's that!  Now on to the next chapter!  Hmm… Kaen or Shunkaku?  *flips a coin*  *coin lands on edge*  *Chibigreen sweatdrops*

Today's recommendations: **_One Inch Ahead_** by Ryuen.  It's an interesting reincarnation-type story that's focused on Chichiri (Yay!).  Nuriko appears in the first chapter, too.  It's curious…I don't know what to think of it yet, except that it's good!

If you want to be notified by e-mail when this story is updated, leave your e-mail address in a review.


	12. Chapter 11

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sensei owns Harry Potter and Watase-sensei owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

~**Chapter 11**~

*_Shunkaku's POV_*

Yawning, I rolled over in my bed – and fell on the ground.  _Bam._  Now I feel dizzy…

Aniki rolls over in his own bed and peers down at me.  "You fell out of your bed again," he observed.  "How many times have you done it now?"

"Twenty-four," I said as I blinked at the ceiling.  It was beginning to stop spinning.  "Twenty-four since I came to Hogwarts."

Aniki sighed and climbed out of his own bed.  "Here, let me help you up."  I grasped his hand as he helped me stand, but I still almost lost my balance.  Aniki put a steadying hand on my shoulder until I regained my balance.  I smiled.  Aniki's so nice.

"Arigatou, Aniki!"  Cheerfully I changed out of my plaid pajamas and into my wizard's robes before bounding out into the Slytherin common room.  It was very nice and mostly in shades of blue.  It didn't actually look very homely because it looked like one of those rooms some people have just for entertaining guests, but it was nice.  I went to sit in my favorite sofa seat while I wait for Aniki and my other friends to get into their robes

Huh?  Something hard was under the sofa seat.  It hadn't been there last night.  Frowning slightly, I dug under the cushion until my hand encountered the object and pulled it out.  What it was surprised me.  It was a slightly worn-down blue book with black lettering down the side and on the front.  It was in Chinese.  Also on the front (which some Westerners would consider the back) was the outline of a gold diamond with a silver dragon on the inside.  I touched the letters.  I felt slightly odd.  "Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho."  That was the Four Gods Heaven Earth Book.  Now I felt very odd and very curious.  I opened up the book to a random page.

On the page was a picture of a strange weapon.  At least, I think it was a weapon.  It looked like a yo-yo, but with a ball at each end of a thick rope.  It was also decorated with feathers.  On the adjoining page I read, "Ryuuseisui: weapon for the Star of Seiryuu known as Suboshi.  Only a wizard with strong telekinesis can control it.  When wielded correctly, it is a deadly weapon.  When the destined Star appears, the weapon will come into being at his command."  What the heck was this book?

"Shun-kun!" sung a feminine voice.  That can only mean one thing… Kaen is awake.  She sat down on the sofa arm.  "What are you reading there?"  Without any consideration for me, she plucked the book out of my hand and looked at the cover.  "Sounds interesting.  Is it a spell book?"

"I don't know…" I said resentfully.  She was trying to bother me, wasn't she?  Sometimes she acts so frivolous.

She flipped a few pages and read for a moment before dropping the book back in my lap.  "Nah, I don't want to read this," she said flippantly before walking off.

Kaen gets on my nerves so much sometimes.  Girls!  Who needs them?

Next to come down was Chuin.  He was walking by me when he saw the book I was holding, and he just stopped in place and stared at it.  He can be a creepy person when he wants to be, but him being…_scared of a book_?!  That's troubling.  Why would he be afraid of a book?

"Where did you get that book?"

Why was it important?  "I found it under the sofa seat when I got down here."  Had he seen the book before?

Apparently, yes.  "That's weird… Last night, during my detention, it was in one of the unused library rooms when we were leaving…" he trailed off and shook his head.  Was he just trying to creep me out?  It was working if that's what it was!  He grabbed the book and flipped to the front.  "There's no copyright information, and it looks handwritten.  This book must be one of a kind, so this has to be the one that was in the library!"

I noticed something on the cover and picked it off.  Cat hair…?  Chuin stared at the hair for a moment, shook his head again, and then walked off with the book.  Hey!  He still has it!  Maybe he's taking it to the library… It wasn't mine in the first place, so I guess it's okay.  Besides, I have to wait for Aniki!  He'd better hurry.  We have Potions first thing this morning.

********

Potions can be fun.  Potions can be really bad.  Potions can be really, really boring, and it was now.  Snape was in full-blown lecture mood, and I was _bored_.  I yawned and sighed.  Who wants to learn the properties of Pimply eggs anyway?

Snape glared at me.  Oops.  Had I said the last past out loud?  I froze as he walked towards me.  "Mister Bu, do you _know_ the properties of Pimply eggs?"  I shook my head, but apparently he was waiting for an answer.

"No, sir."

"Do you know what types of potions Pimply eggs are used in?" he asked with a slight edge in his voice.

"No, sir," I replied nervously.  Where was this going?

"Then pay attention," he said and calmly walked back to the front of the room.  "A point from Slytherin."  Now my classmates were glaring me at.  That was the first point Snape had taken from the Slytherin first years, since he was the Head of out House.

So he went on lecturing, and I listened…kinda.  A Pimply is a type of pretty pathetic fish that has long rubbery webbed feet.  It usually walks along the bottom of deep lakes, though occasionally it will come close enough to the surface to nibble on swimmers and their clothing.  To get rid of it, tie the legs up as much as you can.  It will simply float away while trying to untangle you.  Overall, it's a pretty nonmagical fish.

On the other hand, its eggs are apparently good for something.  Like Flobberworm fluid, the fluid from the eggs can be used to thicken potions.  It is like oil, so many wizards use it when mechanical Muggle things that they have to use get rusty.  It removes the rust, too.

The potion we were making today – I'm not sure what its name is – is a pretty simple mixture, mainly with Pimply egg fluid and Flobberworm fluid in it.  As I make it, I notice that it doesn't smell very good at all.  But it does look disgustingly familiar.  It's the same junk that all the people trying to find their pets fell into.

When everyone was done and the potions were inspected, Snape went back into lecture mode.  "This potion may not look very dangerous at first, but it can have disastrous effects if spilled."  As he spoke, he ladled some into a shallow pan.  "Watch."  He dropped a small marble into the potion and gave it a push with the tip of his feather quill.  The ball began to roll and did not stop.  It was quickly coated with a layer of the slimy potion and continued to smack against the sides of the pan as it rolled around.  "It completely cancels out the thing Muggles call _friction_.  If they had this, they would be able to make their silly machines almost completely efficient."

So that's what I had slipped in.  I made a face as I looked at it and wondered if they had found the pool of it on the Hogwarts ground.  It doesn't really matter to me; I just want to get out of the class and get to Charms.__

********

I love Charms class.  I think it is the best class, mostly because the charms are so interesting.  I heard that some of the more complex ones even fiddle with people's emotions.  Now, though, we are learning something slightly less complex.  It's name doesn't sound that good.  It's called the Red Rover charm because it can apparently grab anything's attention easily, but it works best on dogs.  It makes them trust the spell caster.

Why are we even learning it, then?  Apparently, it's to give us a break before we learn a _really_ hard charm.  Now that sounds fun.  But for now, we have this charm.

Professor Flitwick is, as always, standing on a pile of books behind his desk.  "Today, as I have already told you, we will be learning the Red Rover charm."  He went on into a small lecture about its uses and instructions on how to use it properly.  He finished with, "Remember, the spell is '_Caneballo'_ [1].  Pronounce it correctly.  And the hand movement is twirl and flick!  Now pair up, and call me over if you have any trouble."

Of course Aniki and I worked together.  Professor Flitwick had provided miniature dogs transfigured by McGonagall from feathers for us to try out the charm on.  As it was, the dogs were cute and fluffy, and around two inches tall at the most.  They also acted distrustful and mean, which I didn't understand until Flitwick said that the feathers had come from geese.  Since geese are disagreeable most of the time, it makes sense that dogs made from their feathers are equally disagreeable.

"Do you want to try first?" Aniki offered.

I nodded and took out my wand.  Twirl…and flick.  "_Caneballo_!"  The dog, who had been staring over the edge of the desk, stiffened suddenly and then relaxed.  It turned towards me.  The eyes looked glazed over as it trotted over happily.  The mini-mutt sat in front of me with its mini-tail thumping on the desk and its mini-tongue hanging from its mouth.  It was definitely entranced.  I smiled and then used the _Finite Incantatem _spell so that the dog went back to normal.

Aniki tried next, and he had just as much success as me.  I beamed at him, happy that we had both done so well.

Then Professor Flitwick told us to try it on each other.  We had to try to concentrate on something besides our partner, who would then use the Red Rover charm on us and see if it worked.  We had to get a new partner this time.  I somehow or other ended up paired with Karasu.  He's shorter than me, but he's even creepier than Chuin.  He seems to like being in control of his life.  Is it a Napoleonic complex?

I opened up my Charms book and tried to concentrate on it, but I couldn't help but nervously glance at Karasu once in a while.  It's not like he's a _bad_ person, but he likes to be the center of attention, the metaphorical most important player on the field.  Sometimes it gets annoying.

I felt something forcing me to look around, so I turned my head and saw Chuin.  He had been partnered up with Aniki, so why had he used the spell on me?  But, wait… His wand wasn't pointed at me!  It was pointed straight at Aniki.  Why had the spell affected me, then?  It had never happened before.  I slowly forced myself to look back at my book, thereby breaking the spell.  That was weird.

It happened again…and again…and again, and I think it happened to Aniki when Karasu used the charm on me.  I could hear Chuin say, "Hey, you're supposed to be concentrating on _me_ when I use the charm!"

We're being affected by spells used on the opposite?  In the wizarding world, it's not impossible, I guess.  It's just troubling…  How closely connected am I with my brother?  If I get hurt, will he get hurt?  If I die before him, will he…?  I don't want to know.  I really don't.

Could he get hurt because of me?  Say that I trip and skin my knee.  Will he feel the pain from that?  I want to protect Aniki.  He has always tried his best to take care of me, and what have I done for him?  Sure, I stand up for him whenever someone talks badly about him or threatens him, but is that enough now?  Does me being in pain hurt Aniki just as much as if he was the one who had received the wound?  Not just physically, I mean, but emotionally, too?  This turn of events… I never expected anything like it.

I promise that I will protect Aniki and myself as much as I.  That way he _never_ gets hurt because of me.  He's always watched out for me.  It's now time to return the favor.

Karasu used the charm to get my attention.  He simply smiled when I glared at him.  "So, are you going to the Quidditch game?" he asked while I tried to break the charm's effect again.

"I don't even know what Quidditch is!" I complained loudly as I finally snap the effect and am able to focus on something other than Karasu.  Other people in the room that heard me stared at me like I had grown a second head.  "What?" I ask.  Is it really that big of a deal?  Everyone turns back to their work when Professor Flitwick told them to return to their charms.  Maybe I should go to this "Quidditch" game and see what it is.

_*Kaen's POV*_

I'm glad it's Sunday.  Last week was boring, but today we have a Quidditch game to watch.  The weather wasn't the best.  It was cloudy and gray, but I was sure that it would still be a good day.  Today would be the day I saw my first Quidditch match!  Like almost everyone else, I'm excited to be out of the school with something to do.  The entire school turned out for the Quidditch match just for an excuse to get out of the castle.  Getting to watch an amazing game while they were at it was just a bonus.

I'm surprised that Shunkaku didn't know what Quidditch was!  It's a huge sport here, and it's also getting more popular in Japan.  I'm not sure about the Americas, but I do know that most of the wizarding world does know about Quidditch.  He is half wizard, so he _should_ have known about it.  But if his wizard parent was a traditionalist, it's understandable.  Some of the Japanese wizards look down on Quidditch as un-Japanese.  Or he could have just not heard about it.  Because Tokyo is such a large city, there are hardly any good places to play Quidditch.  Some people in Tokyo don't know about Quidditch because of that.

I looked at the Quidditch field from my seat with interest.  I've never actually _seen_ one because, after all, I did live in Tokyo.  The seats are on top of very tall walls.  It looks to me as if the walls are cloth over a wooden construction.  There are many squares in a checkerboard-like pattern, and there were colors to represent each House, even the ones not playing today.  Though colorful, the walls reminded me of the outer parapets of a castle, complete with towers where the teachers could sit.  Its oval shape enclosed the Quidditch field, which was much different than any Muggle field.

Muggle fields are all laid out on the ground.  This is not true with wizard fields because no major wizard sport is played on the ground.  All wizard sports are played on broomsticks.  That would be very uncomfortable for us wizards if we didn't have the nice Cushioning Charm to make an invisible seat on the broom.  Brooms have an entire repertoire of charms and spells installed in them to make them safe and easy to use.  As for the Quidditch field, it was mostly empty except for three hoops on poles on each end of the field.  The ground was marked with a small circle in the center, and there were also lines to notate the scoring area around the hoops, which served as the goals.

Then the players came onto the field.  Today's game was Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff.  First years aren't allowed to play, but I don't really want to be on the school team.  I want to watch Quidditch, not play it.

Madame Hooch, the flying instructor and today's referee, rode her broom to the center of the field and the teams gathered on either side of her.  When everyone was set, she threw the scarlet ball up, and the players on their brooms were off.  One player on each team, the Keeper, moved to guard the goals.

Besides the scarlet ball, known as the Quaffle, there were three other balls on the field (or rather floating somewhere above it).  There were two Bludgers, which are bowling ball-sized iron balls that are enchanted to try to hit the nearest player, and the Golden Snitch, which is a small golden ball with wings that flitters around.  Two Beaters on each team went after the Bludgers to try to hit them at the opposing team, and one player (the Seeker) from each team hovered as high as they could go to try to see the Snitch below.  There were three Chasers on each team.  Their job was to use the Quaffle to score.  It was ten points for each goal, and the game ended when a Seeker caught the Snitch for a total of 250 points.

The facts of the game are very dry and boring.  The game play is _much_ more interesting.

The Seekers were still hovering over the field as the Chasers went all-out.  Wands were banned from being used against others, but they were doing everything they could to make sure they won.  Ravenclaw currently had possession of the Quaffle.  One went in for the score, and most of the stadium groaned when it bounced off the hoop.  All Hufflepuffs cheered as their team took the Quaffle, but then a Bludger hit by a Ravenclaw got too close to their lead Chaser.  He spun temporarily out of control, and an opposing Chaser took the chance to steal the Quaffle.  She was able to get it past the Hufflepuff Keeper and through the goal hoop so quickly that even the Hufflepuffs were close to cheering.

The game went on like that for a while, back and forth, but the Seekers couldn't find the Snitch.  The game was tied fifty-fifty, so whoever caught the Snitch first would win.

Suddenly the Ravenclaw Seeker went into a dive and went straight for Madame Hooch.  The Hufflepuff Seeker followed, but barely missed hitting the referee as the Ravenclaw quickly went around the teacher and grabbed the Snitch from behind her.  An angry Hufflepuff Beater hit a Bludger so hard that it went crashing into the woods, but above the cheering crowd only a few heard a loud yelp and an angry growl like I did.  I was at the top row of the seats, so I turned to look behind me.  There were glowing red eyes in the wood.

Before I could say anything, a pack of gigantic dogs tore out of the woods.  Every single one of them was completely black, and every single one of them had three heads with extremely sharp teeth.  I knew what these were.  "Cerberuses!  There's a pack of Cerberuses out there!" I shouted to everyone else.  People turned to look, and the students erupted in shouts of surprise and screams.  One Cerberus bounded forward and ripped a hole in the wall of the Quidditch pitch.

I decided that now would be a good time to try out the new spell I had learned while reading that book Shunkaku had had.  Like it had directed in the book, I pointed my wand straight at the sky.  "_Haku Jin Rai_!" I shouted, and blue lightning gathered in the clouds above me.  I swung my wand down to point at the mass of elephant-sized dogs below me, and the lightning followed.  The huge thunderclap that came after the burst of lightning was enough to knock some students over.

The lightning hadn't been enough to kill them, but some of the Cerberuses ran away.  However, a few remained.  I prepared to use my spell again, but a shout to my right distracted me.  Genrou of Gryffindor was standing on the bench and had his wand held back like he was throwing something.  "Rekka Shinen!" he shouted as he whipped the wand forward.  A tsunami of blindingly bright fire rushed from the wand's tip and turned half of the dogs into ashes.

I used my lightning spell again, and Genrou used his fire spell at the same time.  They merged together and landed in the midst of the dogs with an extremely loud explosion.  When the dust cleared and the light faded, there was not only no more dogs, there was a small crater between the forest and the Quidditch pitch.  I looked sheepishly back towards the field and the teachers.

Professor Dumbledore didn't frown at the hole.  Instead, he smiled at me and at Genrou.  "That was an extremely job at preventing disaster.  Congratulations, Miss Haku, Mister Kou.  Fifty points to each of your houses."  And then everyone in the stands applauded.  They were applauding _us_.

*_Tama's POV_*

Why did a pack of Cerberuses from the Forbidden Forest attack a Quidditch match?  Why would I know?

But I do know.  I consider it to be my job, so I keep watch of these types of things.  I prefer to sleep on the warm comfy rug before the fire of the Gryffindor common room to watching, so I'm taking a break there now that the trouble is over with.

One of the cats – I'm still not sure which – someone or other wandered into Cerberus territory.  Most dogs chase cats.  A Cerberus is still a type of dog.  The whole pack chased after the cat, and one was about to chomp the cat in question when a stray Bludger from the strange game that humans play hit the Cerberus in the head.  It happened to be the alpha male, so the whole pack went after the one who had offended them.  They really were going to tear down the Quidditch field and kill everyone in it if they could, but then the spells from two of the humans stopped them.

I'm glad that I arranged for the books to be taken from the library to our humans.  It was a very good decision, as it turned out.

*_Kaen's POV_*

That was an exciting day, but I'm glad it's over.  Using that spell wore me out completely.  It's good that dinners at Hogwarts are so spectacular.  I am controlling my eating, but I'm ravenous.

Ayuru is acting nicer to me.  I wonder if I impressed him with my spell?  Before, he had never really treated me seriously.  Now he does, and I'm starting to realize that I never really treated him seriously, either.  He is cute, but he is also intelligent and ambitious.  He wants to become the youngest Japanese Minister of Magic ever and crack down on Dark wizards.  That is odd for someone in Slytherin, but I agree with him.  Dark wizards never amounted to much, really, except for Voldemort.  And who'd want to join forces with him?  After he died, the truth of how he treated his followers came out.

The encounter with the Cerberuses showed me that I could amount to something great.  One day I'll do something big, and people will remember me.  They won't remember me as someone's wife, like my mother wants, or from getting good marks, like my father wants.  I will do things my own way and reach my own destiny.  No one else will decide it for me.

I wonder what I can do with my life?  I don't think that was a normal spell that I used today.  What does it all mean?  I have to think about it.  Christmas break is coming up.  Maybe I should stay at Hogwarts for the holidays.  I have a feeling I'll find out something important about my life.

[1] _Caneballo_ – Actually, this came from Italian.  Cane = dog, ballo = dance… I think…

Translations: arigatou – thank you; Aniki – older brother (Suboshi refers to Amiboshi as his aniki); -kun – a title for someone you consider your equal that is used between equals or friends, especially guys

**Chibigreen's Notes:** Ooh, a daylong writing spree… I feel dizzy.  @_@  This is definitely a once-in-a-very-long-while thing.  Yikes, Suboshi got serious in his POV… I may be the one writing it, but I don't think I have much control over what happens.

_Shunkaku_: Of course you do!  You could either do something incredibly stupid…

_Kaen_: …or you could listen to us!

_Mikki-muse_: The characters are getting smarter.  *nods wisely*  Their game has risen above Chibigreen's.

_Rime-muse_: Fewmets.  If they control Chibigreen, nothing horrible will happen to them.  (And what's with the Hikaru no Go-type quote, Mikki…?)

_Chibigreen_: Anyhow!  The next chapter will be Christmas-ish, ya know?  ^___^

**Kryssa** – I'm SO happy that someone liked the way I portrayed Chuin.  ^____^  I know he wasn't quite in character, but… *shrugs*

**Ryuen** – Um, you can download the song Coming Out at Strawberry Sherbert (http://oddimals.com/ss/).  If it's not still up, you can probably request that the owner of that website put it back up.  She's a Megumi Ogata fan, too.

**TA Maxwell** – I'll try to get more Nuriko in sooner or later… I don't know when, but he is an interesting character to mess around with- I mean, to write.

**shadow priestess** – I like featuring Ryuuen.  ^___^  He's a very fun character.

**Sara Jaye** – Um, when you said Hotohori, did you mean Nuriko?

**anon** – I was surprised by how many people wanted Shunkaku to be next.  ^___^

**Kang Xiu** – I've never heard of "Tsuki no Nai Yoru", but I'll try to find some place where I can download it.  ^___^

**ember-fang** – Sorry, but Ryuuen won't end up with Chuin.  *sweatdrops*  I never expected someone to _ask_ for them to be a couple…  Ryuuen's going to end up with Saihitei, and as for Chuin… I have no idea.

**Keimei** – Sorry for leaving you hanging with the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho thing!  ^___^  It should get much more interesting in the future.

**Saturn-hime** – I might have Snape say, "I'm not wearing any knickers," in this story, but I really don't know if I'll be able to fit it in.  *sweatdrops*  That'd be very, very strange…

**Draconsis** – You were right about Kaen tying in with the last chapter better than Shunkaku, but I just had to have him in it.  So I had both of them !  ^___^

**Singing Nightingale** – You're probably right about everyone having a dysfunctional family on some level or other.

**Flying heart** – Don't worry, Ashitare will be fairly nice.  ^___^  Anyway, I take my personality quizzes at the anime section of http://www.selectsmart.com/

**Sanomi** – I'm glad you liked it.  ^___^

**Anonymous** – I'm not going to do a Nuriko/Miaka story, so don't worry there.  ^___^  But I'm _not_ going to make Chiriko a girl.  I'm not offended by the idea at all, but it just wouldn't work very well in this story.

**An93x** – Thanks for the compliment.  ^___^

Today's recommendations: I would recommend **_The Last Wish_** (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=287276) by Ryuen because it made me cry and it has to be very good to make me cry… but I've been recommending Ryuen's fics quite frequently.  So, I'll do another recommendation: **_Nijuusei_** (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=628646) by Kaen.  It stars Yui and reincarnated Suboshi and Amiboshi, who have never met and do not remember the past.  It's quite good, and I like it though I'm not a big fan of Yui or Suboshi.  ^___^

If you want to be notified by e-mail when this story is updated, leave your e-mail address in a review.


	13. Chapter 12

~**Tears of a Phoenix**~

A Fushigi Yuugi/Harry Potter Crossover

**DISCLAIMER: **Rowling-sensei owns Harry Potter and Watase-sensei owns Fushigi Yuugi.  Chibigreen only owns a homemade Chichiri plushie.  *glomps plushie*

_Note:_ I've changed Miboshi's name from "Karasu Kuchibashi" to "Wataru Kuchibashi" and Ashitare's name from "Kiba Ashippo" to "Tsuyoshi Kibaro" because so many Seiryuu names I used began with "K," and I wanted some variation. 

~**Chapter 12**~

*_Ayuru's POV_*

In the great hall, there stood a gigantic, much too extravagant Christmas tree.  From tip to trunk it was decorated with many colorful and creative ornaments.  Most prominent of the decorations was a glowing halo around the tip.  There were also many-colored fairies sitting on or floating by some branches, apparently magicked there.  Wrapped around the tree were colorful streamers.

Christmas trees seem to cause people to feel some sort of emotion, good or bad.  The many ornaments, the evergreen boughs… Some feel happy when they see it; some feel depressed, perhaps from a thought of why this Christmas is for some reason worse than previous ones.  It is a familiar picture to many, even if they do not know the reason Christmas was began.

The spirit of the holidays has been tainted by commercialism… 'Get so-and-so this so fabulous thing!  It is the perfect gift for the holidays.'  In the Muggle world, at least, you will hear that more often than not.  Higher sales are the true meaning of Christmas to businesses.  I may only be eleven years old, but I'm not stupid.  I watch the world around me and try to see the truth, and the realistic version of that.  I am optimistic only about my own future.  I know the truth: some human hearts have no amount of good in them and never will.

Yet I do not hate Christmas, so I stayed at the school.   I'd have to celebrate Christmas at my house, but I want to see what Christmas at this school is like.  Another reason is it's hard to get wizardly transportation at this time of year.  So I decided not to bother myself and to just stay here with the others.  Kaen, Yui, Shunkaku, Koutoku, Wataru, Tsuyoshi, and Chuin all stayed, as well as those Gryffindors – the ones that were slowly becoming friends with some of us.

What is troubling me the most is how two of those staying here, Kaen and Genrou, can use two spells that I have never heard of.  My father has high expectations of me because he feels that I can achieve much in the world through the power I possess.  Because of this, years of my life were spent doing little but study spells and potions.  In Japan, your parents are allowed to tutor you in magic, but you can only use the magic out of their presence after graduating from a wizard school.  That is why I was so surprised by Kaen and Genrou's spells.  I have _never_ heard of them, and I have studied countless books of charms and spells.

Later, I tried the spells for myself based on what I had seen them do.  Nothing happened _at all_.  Magic-wise, I'm very, very strong.  It should have created some sort of effect in any case, but it didn't.  Either Kaen was more powerful than me – which I doubted – or somehow, the spell only works for certain types of people.  Perhaps it is tied into emotions.  In any case, I'll never be able to use the spells that they used.

The next day was Christmas, so I went to bed earlier than usual.  I don't care about getting up early for Christmas, but my roommates do.  If I didn't, I would be very tired the next morning.

********

"Aniki!  Wake up!  It's Christmas!  It's Christmas" Shunkaku said with, in my opinion, too much happiness that early in the morning.  I groaned and buried my head under my pillow without opening my eyes.  The extra hours of sleep had just been thrown away.

"Shun-chan, it's five in the morning," came Koutoku's tired reply.

A sniffling sound.  "But, Aniki…!"

It occurred to me that I most likely would not get back to sleep, so I pushed my pillow away and rolled on my side.  That way I can see what my other roommates do to Shunkaku.  Chuin is very grouchy in the morning.  "Shunkaku, will you just shut up?" he snapped.  His voice was muffled because he was under his covers in an attempt to stay asleep.

"Why should I?"

He threw his covers off and sat up, glaring.  "Because-"

Koutoku jumped to his feet.  "It's okay.  I'll go with you."

Shunkaku beamed at his twin.  "Yay!  I got you a great present!  You'll love it," he said as they walked out of the dormitory.

With a sigh, I threw back my covers and stood up.  The room was still gloomy and dark, but I managed not to trip over anything as I made my way out the door.

The Slytherin tree was nice, almost as nice as the tree in the Great Hall.  Its ornaments and ribbons were all in silver and green, and those were also the main colors of the various presents beneath the tree.  One present wrapped in blue drew my attention.  I picked it up and looked at the tag.  _'To Yui, Ayuru, Koutoku, Shunkaku, Chuin, Wataru, Tsuyoshi, and Kaen.'_  Why was it addressed to those seven students and me?  I settled down on a comfortable chair with the book-sized package in my lap.  Shunkaku and Koutoku were just beginning to open their first presents.

"Shunkaku, Koutoku, stop opening those and wait for everyone else," I ordered them.  The present _felt_ important, and I never ignored my hunches.

Shunkaku opened his mouth, perhaps to ask why, when he glanced at the package.  His gaze went unfocused for a second, and then he blinked.  "Is that the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_?" he asked me.

"The _what_?" Koutoku and I said at the same time.

He ignored us.  "The _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_.  It had a lot of spells in it.  I found it in this room one morning and read one, and so did Kaen, but then Chuin seemed freaked out when he saw it and took it away."

Kaen read from it?  Is that where she learned that spell?  If Chuin took it away, why was it back and addressed to him?  It didn't make much sense to me.  "What spell did you learn from it?"

He looked embarrassed.  "Actually, I'm not sure that I can do it.  It said that only 'Suboshi' could do it, and isn't Suboshi a constellation?"  I nodded.  I believe it was, but only in some obscure Chinese mythology.  I remember hearing about it when visiting Kyoto once, since there's rumors about that town tied to the Chinese beliefs.  Shunkaku continued, "I've never tried the spell.  It might've not even been a spell.  It looked more like a weapon to me."

I leaned back in my seat, eyes focused on the package.  Eventually the twins went back to opening presents, but only the package on my lap interested me.  The book – if it was the book that Shunkaku was talking about – held a large possibility that I could become more powerful.  Kaen had already learned a powerful spell from it, and that spell was currently above anything I could do.  But this book… With it, I could become hugely powerful.  It would make me powerful…more powerful than _anyone_.

Maybe I could even be powerful enough to make my father come back from the United States and be with Mother again.  He had left Mother all alone in Japan since before I was born.  I, Gi Ayuru – the bastard, whose father left his unmarried mother for a job in America's Ministry of Magic – could become _better_ than my father.  Maybe Mother would stop crying over him…

My fist clenched at the thought.  It had to be the book.  Only then could I achieve what I wanted.  Only then.

A branch suddenly broke in the tree, grabbing my attention.  Reflexively, Koutoku caught a large blue ornament that fell from the branch.  Then I noticed something important: it was not an ornament, but an egg.  It was a bulky, opaque egg that had a shell like a gemstone, but was definitely an egg.

The others entered the room around then, stretching, chattering, and yawning.  Slowly, the movement quieted as all of our attention was drawn to the egg.  I felt funny inside, like I had performed a powerful spell.  And then, it cracked open.

*_Genrou's POV_*

There was a big freakin' egg in the fireplace.  It sparkled like it was made of rubies or something like that, and it was _definitely_ burning.  No one else was downstairs in the Common Room yet, but I was.  So I said the first thing that came to my mind.  "Bloody &%*@!  What the $@%# is _that_?"  So sue me if it wasn't polite.  I keep that language to myself, or at least I try…

"Um… what does 'bloody &%*@' and '$@%#' mean?  Isn't '&%*@' something in the afterlife for bad people?"

Turning around, I reddened when I saw Doukun.  "Doukun!  You weren't supposed to hear that!"  He doesn't know what they mean?  How sheltered _is_ this kid?

Another voice came down the stairwell.  "He wasn't supposed to hear what, no da?"  Houjun was smiling as usual when he exited the stairwell.

"Er…"

The timely entrance of Miaka, Ryuuen, Taka, Saihitei saved me, and Juan because the first thing Miaka noticed was the egg.  "Genrou," she asked, puzzled, "are you cooking that?"

I replied, "No.  I thought one of you might…" I trailed off when I saw the egg move.  Suddenly, I was rooted to the floor as I looked on.  It rocked back and forth, and my arm started to tingle almost painfully, like the pins-and-needles feeling I get after my leg falls asleep.

The ruby eggshell abruptly split in half, and a flame roared out of it.  Then the flame had wings, and it was soaring across the room, dropping harmless sparks on our heads as it flew.  It wasn't a flame; it was a phoenix.

The baby phoenix unexpectedly dropped out of the sky, and I reflexively dove and caught it before it hit the ground.  From the floor, I stared at it as it settled down in my open hands.  It was a beautiful crimson color, with orange and yellow tail feathers that draped behind it.  On its head was a similar crest, but those feathers were short.  Its black eyes stared at me, and then cocked its head and blinked.  Cutely.  The %$*# thing was being cute.  Then it hopped out of my hands and waddled towards the Christmas tree in front of me.

It was only then that I noticed.  I had crossed half the room in about half a second.  There are a few choice words I could use to describe what I felt, but they were the type that Doukun wouldn't understand.

The scarlet phoenix went on waddling until it came up to a present wrapped in a similar shade of red.  Wait… Aren't phoenixes supposed to be orange with not that much red?  Something's up here.

Soon everyone was crowding around.  Miaka had picked up the phoenix and was cuddling it while it crooned happily.  Doukun picked up the package that the phoenix had dropped.  He stared at it as I got up and dusted myself off.  Cat hair had _somehow_ found its way onto my clothes.  With all the pets we have, I'm not surprised.  Doukun waved the package excitedly.  "It's to all of us!"

"Nani?" asked Taka, grabbing it.  He looked at the tag.  "Well… This is strange.  Anyone mind if I open it?"  No one said no, so he did.  A slip of paper fell out.  Sai picked it up for him and read it.

"It says to take care of the phoenix," he said, sounding puzzled.  "I'll quote it exactly.  'The phoenix is not a pet, but he is your responsibility.  All of you have to take care of Suzaku.'"  He flipped the paper to check for anything more, but found nothing.  "Then the phoenix's name is Suzaku.  That's oddly familiar…"

Taka finished tearing off the wrapping.  When he did, my eyes widened in surprise.  "Hey, that's the _Shi Jin_ thingy!  Hey, Ryuu-kun, I thought you returned that to the library."  The _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_ had appeared one day in our Common Room.  I'm the one who found it, and in it I found the 'Rekka Shinen' spell.  The spell is actually much longer than 'Rekka Shinen', but the short version I say has more or less the same effect.  It's just not as powerful.  Anyway, I have a hard time remembering the full version.

Ryuuen was bemused.  "I did take it to the library.  Maybe it was meant for us in the first place?"

"Maybe," Juan agreed, "but we won't know until we open it."  Tama-neko ran into the room and jumped onto Juan's shoulder.  The cat purred and rubbed his head as Juan to rubbed him.  That cat's unbelievably spoiled.

*_Tama's POV_*

I watched Juan as he curiously watch the Suzaku children open up the book, Suzaku sitting on Miaka's shoulder.  The children of Seiryuu and Suzaku had finally found their gods – and their god's books, for that matter.  They were _so_ hopeless at first.  When mysteriously presented with an ultra-powerful book, they were _not_ supposed to return it, but they did anyway!  Byakko help us.  I mean, gods!  The pets go through endless amounts of trouble under my supervision to get the books to their owners, and then we have to do it _all_ over again.

The other pets still wondered how I always knew exactly what to do.  It would be very curious to me, too, if I weren't Byakko's equivalent of Taiitsu-kun's Nyan-Nyans.  That's right.  Byakko has a few select kitty's, including me, that he placed around the world to help him out.  We range in species from tigers to domestic cats, but all of us have predominantly white fur.

It's all turning out right on schedule.  It will take a few years, but the beast-gods' strength will be restored, as was that of Byakko and Genbu a hundred years ago.  '_Really,_' I mentally tell my creator as Juan petted me, '_you should've chosen this soul for your celestial warriors.  None of them could measure up to my Mitsukake._'  I purred happily as Juan rubbed exactly the right spot on my back.  Being a cat is the best.

In my mind, I could hear my creator half chuckling, half purring.  '_Just keep on helping them and make sure that they don't mess up._'

'_That'll be hard.  They're humans.  And I will help…if I feel like it,_' I say.  He chuckles again because, after all, no cat would say anything different. 

*_Ayuru's POV_*

I reread the note that was with the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_.  The egg had hatched into a small blue dragon that was currently being held by Yui.  He was too cute for me, in the way that all babies instantly get girls to say, "It's so cute!"  Apparently, the dragon's name was Seiryuu, and we were supposed to care for him.  Great.  Wonderful.  I would refuse if I could, but it seems that I have no choice.  Besides, if taking care of a dragon means that I can use the book's spells I really don't care.  I open the book.

The first page is not spells, but other information.  I read it aloud to be polite to the others.  "'Of the four gods of heaven, the fiercest is the blue dragon, Seiryuu.  He is known for his quick temper and hunger for power.  Like all of the four gods, his seven celestial warriors…' That is a close translation of 'seishi,' right? '…his seven celestial warriors all represent parts of himself and are named after the stars he rules.  With the twenty-eight constellations split evenly between them, he rules with his brothers: Genbu, Byakko, and Suzaku.  His seven constellations are Nakago, with the symbol for 'heart'; Soi, with the symbol for 'tassel'; Amiboshi, with the symbol for 'high spirits', and his twin constellation Suboshi, with the symbol for 'angle'; Ashitare, with the symbol for 'tail'; Tomo, with the symbol for 'root'; and finally Miboshi, with the symbol for 'basket'.  With these seven constellations, the priestess of Seiryuu can replenish Seiryuu's heavenly power and gain the power to grant wishes.'"

If the priestess could grant wishes, and I was a seishi, could I finally get what I wanted?  But there was _no_ way that the puny little dragon could be a god, right?  The thought process disturbed me, so I snapped the book shut.  "It's very interesting, but it can't wait until after breakfast."  The excuse worked; none of the others suspected that I was, in reality, very troubled.

Wataru glanced at Seiryuu.  "But what about the dragon?  Is it really…a god?"

I shook my head.  "It must just be a normal dragon.  Why would _we_ get a god?"  I truly believed what I said.  See, we can all be idiots sometimes.

It was Tsuyoshi who brought up an important fact.  "Isn't owning a dragon illegal here?"  We all stared at him.  He's not the type to say something smart.  "What'd I say?"

Chuin waved the matter away.  "Nothing.  Don't worry."  He was the first one to walk to the exit.  "We don't actually own him, so I'm sure Dumbledore will let him stay with us.  If he refuses to leave us, whether they _want_ for him to leave or not doesn't matter."

He had a very good point.  If Seiryuu won't leave, they might have trouble removing him.  Besides, Dumbledore knows most of what goes on in his school.  It'd be stupid to try to hide something as obvious as a _dragon_.

But when we got to the great hall, we had a surprise waiting for us.  Specifically it was the Gryffindors, with Yuuki Miaka holding a phoenix.  They were apparently trying to explain their situation to the teachers.  I saw that Taka had a red version of the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_.

"Oh," said Kaen loudly, "so _you_ got one, too?"

The teachers and Gryffindors looked at us.  Each face took on a similar dumbstruck expression that was amusing to see, except for Professor Dumbledore.  As always, the wise eyes in his kindly old face were twinkling.  He definitely had some idea of what was going on; he probably knew more than we knew, at least.  For one moment, I felt lost as I realized that I might not be in control of this situation at all.  I shook it off.  I was always in control of my life.  Destiny didn't exist.  I was in control.  But I couldn't help but feel disconcerted.  What if I was wrong?__

**Author's Notes:** I finally got this chapter out.  Sorry it took so long, but lately I've been feeling kind of…apathetic…towards writing.  (Don't worry; I never give up on my fics.)  Now I'm tired... but I'm off to write in my other fics.  Did Ayuru or Genrou go OOC?  Probably.  But it's an AU, so I have some artistic license there… right? *hides from the hardcore Nakago and Tasuki fans*

**Sara Jaye** – Oops.  Now I feel embarrassed.  ^__^;;

**shadow priestess** - What?  Question marks and Chinese characters were everywhere?  What do you mean?

**TA Maxwell** - ^__^  I'm glad you like it so much.

**Keimei** – The Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho books are going to cause a _lot_ of excitement for the seishi.  ^___^  It will be fun!

**Draconsis** – It's nice to know people enjoy this fic.  ^___^  I got the chapter out as soon as I could.

**Kang Xiu** – I'm glad that I did Shun well, and I'm glad that you liked Kaen even if Soi does annoy you.  I didn't like her that much in the series, either.  ^___^  But I do now.

**Kryssa** – I made Shunkaku say "Aniki" so often to show that he's still a bit immature.  He'll gradually get more mature, and he'll cut down on his obsession with protecting his brother.  And you have no idea how much Tama is sticking his nose into things… *evil laugh*

**ember-fang** – The Nakago/Tamahome story was okay, even if I don't really like the pairing that much.

**PrincessKitty-Chan** – I don't have time to check over my own work.  _  What I write is what I put up because I don't have a beta reader.  But I'm glad you liked the Quidditch match!  (I didn't, but I'm the author, and that's normal.)

**Kouryou Sanomi** – I'm not exactly giving the name of the cat that got the Cerberuses mad.  I thought it'd be more fun if any reviewer-who-is-a-cat could imagine herself as the kitty if she wanted to.

**Anonymous** – You'll see how all of the powers work out!  I even have something planned for Hotohori's power with swords.  And I'm glad you're glad it's not a Nuriko/Miaka story.  ^___^

**Flying heart** – Ashitare won't be exactly _nice_, but he will be much nicer than he was in the anime.

**red wolf** – I'm glad you like the story.

**Singing Nightingale **– I'm glad you like the story.  ^__^ And I'm happy whenever I can fit a bit of Nuriko in – he's such a fun character.

_Today's recommendations:_ To make up for the inadvertent long pause between updates, I decided to recommend some really nice sites (instead of really nice fics; that'll resume next chapter).  1) Watase's Sorai (http://www.yuuwatase.org/) because of its scanlations (scanned manga translations) of some of Watase-sensei's works that aren't available in English elsewhere.  2) Toriyama's World (http://www.toriyamaworld.com/) because it has GREAT scanlations of tons of other manga!  Hikaru no Go, Hunter X Hunter, +Anima, Black Cat, Bleach… Ah, heaven.

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